ShadowDancing
by BellonaBellatrix
Summary: Luna sees what others do not. What happens when someone sees her?Main pairing TL but a drabble series about Luna mostly...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine.

Author notes: I'm dabbling.

And actually, this will be the place for all my drabbles. It wasn't planned before, to be honest. I've just realized I have a lot of little incomplete nick knacks on my computer. Of course, this one and the next drabble have to do with the pairing Tom/Luna. But the series will really be about Luna Lovegood and her adventures—and misadventures. Whatever comes to mind...

Shadow-Dancing

"I've never been much of a dancer, you know," she said, slowly. "I think I've found this to be the case. It seems so planned out, mapped ahead of us, and we have to move just so. Like we're all attached to strings. It doesn't make sense to me."

She told him her view in confidence when she first spotted him.

He was wandering amongst the shadows, and she mistook him for those who prefer to watch then be a part of the crowd. She didn't much mind this, as she was following a similar path. It's better to observe at times, to see what is to be seen instead of having what is to be had.

His eyes were drawn in stark contrast in his face.

She thought him interesting and moved closer to him to get a better look. Her mother's dress robes were too heavy it seemed, especially for dancing. She thought this to be a good sign, like the robes were to be worn for something more and she would find out in good time what that something was.

Vacancy seemed to be in residency for his stance, and she watched as he watched a certain thunder-struck boy who danced awkwardly to the beat, seeming like he wasn't meant to be part of the masses and always a step behind or ahead.

Her voice made no impact for his gaze did not ever waver from the object of study.

"What do you think? Why aren't you dancing?" Luna inquired, coming closer.

His robes looked as out of place as he did, too formal even for the dance. He looked like he was guarding a secret. You can always tell those who have a great deal to say and never say it. The act of guarding becomes more of a way of life then they may even forget what they were guarding in the first place.

He stood quite absorbed in his thoughts, unaffected by time and the noise. She could block noise out, if she tried, and perhaps he was as skilled in the method as she was. His thoughts must have been tightly woven, if he could not hear her.

So she decided to tap him on the shoulder, lightly, to bring some light of awareness into his features. She thought he might look very handsome if he stepped out of the shadows.

She wasn't quite sure what to make of what happened next.

It was a flurry of motion, a sudden burst of what she believed to be…shadows of birds even, flints of a spark about to become a fire. A ripple in the water she had thought was the sky. She remembered crying out, not from fear but from surprise.

Time was not even real. It ran around her, like a stream that eroded the rocks in between forever.

For it could have never even happened, since it happened so quickly.

She had touched him and then before she knew it, she felt the cold floor and saw the stars in the enchanted ceiling and her hair sprawling out around her and her legs caught up in one of the spare chairs…

And the boy was not there. He had vanished into thin air.

Well…she would add that to a possible effect caused by touching someone. Or something very strange had occurred. Her hands tinged, tinged by whatever the sparks could have been made of.

In a mute kind of absorbing awe, her mind wandered as fast as he had disappeared. What had she stumbled upon? Had he looked at her, in a sudden movement, with flashing eyes? In such a motion, maybe she had stumbled into time, if time seemed not to have even…

"Are you all right…down there?" someone asked warily. A red-headed girl with batches of freckles peered over the table curiously.

All right…well, she wasn't right all the time.

"I suppose I am all right," Luna muttered and tried to stand.

"Let me help you," the girl said quickly and offered a hand. Luna took it after a moment's hesitation, for usually, it seemed, she was too heavy in most cases of proffered assistance. They assisted half-way then abandoned their efforts, letting her fall.

The girl did not let her fall but rather helped her to her feet. Her tousled hair flowed around her as she crossed her arms and she smiled casually, like Luna's earlier fall was next to nothing and that she was used to such demonstrations occuring regularly.

"Do you want to go outside and get some fresh air? I think I've had all I can stand of dancing," she laughed and pointed to her feet. Luna laughed.

Can't stand…yet standing on your feet, and…

She laughed and the helpful girl started, apparently not aware of the brilliant joke. But in the end she laughed too. Still giggling, they made their way past the collage of robes and dresses and though the grandiose open doors. The night air was all encompassing and crisp, and Luna was thankful.

The strange numbness that had assaulted her had not quite evaporated. It felt like her mind was still caught, trying to get around the snag in her reason. She was shivering and felt very off-centered indeed.

Maybe she had stumbled onto a Yule tide secret, where the gods would come down from the stars to join in the celebration, adorning dark cloaks and bring gifts. Perhaps the twelvth month held power on the clock, when the twelvth hour is pointed to by two hands.

Strange...

She had heard tale of these kinds of moments. Where your life before a mere moment could be considered on a different plain, and suddenly a new chapter would begin. It was the sort of thing one felt, with gossamer threads that were slowly surrounding them.

"So are you Luna Lovegood?" A voice broke through her thoughts. "I think I've seen you in some of my classes."

"Yes, that's my name. And you are a Gryffindor and you are Ginerva Weasley."

"How…how did you know my first name? I really don't care for it much, it's so... I go by Ginny."

"The name is so full of fate, right. It already has a story," Luna replied absently, her thoughts still with the stoic. "Well, I saw your full name on one of your papers. I was handing back our Tranfiguration essays last year, and as I passed by your desk, you had your name in the corner of your notebook, with numbers assigned to the letters. It was quite interesting."

Ginny's face had bloomed with dull red, even to her ears.

"Erm, that was…I was just…"

Luna then remembered she had another name with numbers. Harry Potter. But Luna had found the whole chart, as she perceived it, as an attempt at trying to find a pattern. Numbers had meanings, she was sure.

"Finding meaning. I like numbers too."

"Yeah," Ginny still looked rather embarrassed, though Luna didn't quite know why. Her yellow gown was pale when not in the light in the ball and the vivacity left the picture, leaving only a memory behind. In fact, it added to the snag. She was still trembling, her heart fluttered.

She couldn't get around the cause. Haunted…she was haunted, it was safe to say, and wondered if she would wake up soon. She never liked Balls anyway. What goes around comes around, and she felt like she was about to be struck, risking the impact with each intake of breath.

It was worse knowing about the strike-to-be than actually being struck, in Luna's opinion.

"That was quite a fall, you know," Ginny began, searching for words to say while leaning against the terrace. "You sure you're okay?"

Fear and thrill…did he have a face? All she saw were those eyes, endless and yet very fleeting.

"I can't say I'm sure…the person I was speaking with didn't help me up. He was rather rude."

"Oh…" Ginny tilted her head curiously and looked away, biting her lip. "I-I guess I'll go back inside. Neville's probably waiting for me…"

"Wait," Luna said, seeing the change in her expression. "Did you know him? The boy in the shadows?"

"Um…I didn't see anyone. I might have missed him," Ginny muttered, looking back towards the doors eagerly, shifting nervously.

"He is very tall, you know," Luna said. "Dark hair. He was quite shady though."

Luna didn't know why she continued to speak. She had grasped something and was chasing it. Proof…she was determined to have proof. She didn't imagine him. Did he really…was it a lapse? In the walls, the walls remember everything…was there someone who had leaned against the wall at one time? But he was watching…

"I think you must have seen him, when he walked away," she spoke quickly. It was bordering on necessary. It almost hurt…not understanding what had happened. She had to. She had to.

Had to.

And so was the case. She would fall harder if Ginny did not, well, see.

"I'm afraid…I didn't see him, Luna. But maybe…maybe it was just…"

Your imagination.

Yet Ginny looked so pale. She was trembling. Was she cold?

"A trick of the light. The shadows can play tricks on us, sometimes."

Luna let her off the hook. Her thoughts weren't agreeing with her, obviously. There was no need for… making Ginny pale, like a wilted flower.

Yet the night had become colder.

&&&

Luna did not let the feeling go or rather, it would not let her go.

What a terrible snag.

Her covers did not warm her tonight. She sat up, with her wand light, and thought it through. Her mother's dress was hung by her bed, looking like a guardian, or a bellsoon to chime. She believed each thread, each detail of the design, crossed the bridge to whatever land thather mother had journeyed to.

She relived the moment a thousand times and she would have a thousand times more if it wasn't for the rustling.

Then she fell back to the present, having been caught in the past.

The bounteous blue curtain, half sham-shell grey with bits of white thread, moved lightly, like a dream coming to life. She could see the fingers brushing the veil, painfully slow.

Yet the motion held a tinge of creation, of a great pattern of rain drops and wings.

Was she dreaming?

Then she saw the face beyond the curtain, angled and pale and surprisingly consuming.

"Do you believe…that I am here?"

His eyes were more real than she had ever felt in her whole life. So the answer was simple, even though she had to drag it from within, and it stumbled on its way.

"Yes, I do," she said simply.

&&&

Hello! Thanks for reading, and the next drabble to come…T/L.


	2. A Chance Happening

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

A Chance Happening

"Might I ask you a question?" Luna inquired.

"You just did," said the boy from another time.

Luna hadn't expected finding a boy in the Room of Requirements. She had almost forgotten how to find the room in the first place. So finding someone actually in it was quite a twist.

She had requested a conversation partner. Just because she was a little bored and slightly lonely that all her friends had gone away to fight without her. And there, just as plain as the night, was a boy waiting for her.

"Go ahead," the boy amended, leaning against the wall lazily. She peered at him in wonder. He was very tall for starters, and there was something very magnetic about his presence. Despite her surprise at his appearance, he was not surprised to see her. Rather, his posture was completely confident and that put her at ease.

"Do you come here often?"

"Whenever I can get away. You see, sometimes I need materials for my experiments that aren't easily obtainable. This room provides an adequate solution."

"Experiments?" Luna asked, her eyes widening. "Can I help?"

"Oh…I usually work alone," he said but smiled charmingly. "But since you seem like a pleasant sort of girl, I'll make an exception."

Luna noticed his hands were like pale birds, and she wondered if he was an artist. For some reason, she thought he was. She played with her necklace somewhat nervously.

"What will we being doing?"

"I've run into an impasse in my research. Souls. What's your opinion on the subject of souls?"

She blinked. "They are rather vital. I suppose they can travel anywhere, though."

"You're speaking of astral projection. And even then, that is not fully your soul," he said, moving closer with such familiarity she didn't think to step back. "Think about it."

"What's your name?" she asked, looking at her mismatched shoes and his straight-laced boots.

"You can call me Tom. And yours?"

"Luna," she answered.

"Enchanting. Now, what time do you come from?"

"I don't suppose I should say. Not to be rude. But that seems like a bad idea."

"You're right," he said, shaking his head. "How thoughtless of me. I've gotten carried away. I always do when people interest me."

"Why do I interest you?" she asked bluntly.

"Why do I interest you?" he asked back. Something in her stomach tingled and she wondered if she had had butterflies for breakfast this morning.

"Because you seem like you have…you have stories. And you seem pleasant, too."

"It's like you've read my mind. How strange, for us to have the same impressions of each other. Now, souls?"

"Well, I think it's a matter of personality. Character. Your soul gives you character. I suspect it's a many colored thing, to be sure."

Speaking of character, this room had an immense amount of character. She had walked into orbs and vials and black books. Piles of them. In the orbs were lights. They looked like fluttering moths and mermaids' pearls.

"Hah, colored coded souls. I have to disagree. For when I see them, they are pale and white. For the most part."

"You've seen that?" Luna asked. "Wow. What is it in the sea shells that you saw them?"

"…Sea shells don't have souls."

"Oh, I disagree," Luna said, sitting up from her position on the window ledge. "I think everything has a soul."

"The stones you're sitting on lack life," Tom pointed out."That puts a hole in your theory, you know."

"Perhaps their souls are elsewhere. That can happen, you know. Sometimes I do think there's a place where all the souls go. I'm not sure of it, though, but I believe that it is there."

"I've heard the theory before," Tom said, shifting against the background in such a way it made him very hard to see. "Many times. And I don't believe in it. It's the stuff of fairytales and fear."

"Well, first, you have to open your mind. If your mind is closed, you will miss so many things. We're told to only look at what is in front of us. Merely look around and you will be surprised at what jumps out at you."

"You're a funny sort of girl, aren't you?" he asked. He looked otherworldly in many ways, she noticed. Too pale as if he hadn't gone out into the sun for a very long time. Too tall. Too handsome. Something was amiss here.

"Some people say I am. Do you mean that in a good way or bad way?"

"Good or bad? Hah, you limit yourself. The open-minded would never use such terms."

"Let's pretend I'm close-minded for a moment," Luna answered, not about to be cheated.

"I would say in a good way. Tell me about yourself. You don't have to tell me specifics. Just so I can get a picture."

"I like to sing," Luna said, smiling at him.The day swirled into twilight behind her, and her happiness was illuminated across the darkened room.

"…Anything else?"

"Oh, I think I've found the answer to your riddle, good sir," she mused. "Did you know that music is the key to the soul? It has been used to lure many a good person into a tight spot and at the same time, change the world. Then there is the mirror that can take souls. I've definitely heard of that. And I think there is something about the eyes. What do all these things have in common?"

"Reflection," he answered, and she blinked. Usually, she had to be a little clearer with people.

"Yes," she said happily. "You're right. What about you? Tell me about yourself. I'm very curious."

"I'm not very interesting, I'm afraid. Actually, I confess I'm rather boring."

"No one is boring," Luna said, tilting her head.

"Why do you wear corks around your neck, Luna?" he asked. She was startled as he moved closer to her position by the window. She discovered it had turned to twilight at some point, and the window was very chilly. She shivered.

"My mother made me this necklace," she answered, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

"You're sad," he noticed.

She looked up quickly. "No, not at all. What makes you think that, Tom?"

"Just a change in your voice. I'm good at reading people. It's a talent of mine."

"Well, that's not boring," Luna said. "There you go, Tom. You see."

"I'm not afraid to tell you about myself. Or show you things about myself, rather. Since you're curious, would you like to see my time?"

Luna let go of her necklace. "What?"

"I think if we both leave this room at the same moment, the room would have to be in one static time. So, either I would come into your time, or you would come into mine."

"Could I get back?" Luna asked. "And I still don't know you very well at all."

"Ask me anything. Anything at all," he said generously, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Um…why are you researching souls? Are you curious?"

"Ah, curiosity. I admit I have an agenda. I'm not a curious person as much as I am a driven person."

She noticed his tie for the first time and reached out to touch it. He allowed to do so and took the opportunity to remove most of the distance between them.

"You're a Slytherin," she muttered. "Hmm…"

"Come on, you're not biased, are you?" He laughed. "I'm rather fond of Ravenclaws. Always full of ideas, you know. A bit impractical at times but still, it's charming."

"Well, I've never met a nice Slytherin," she admitted. "Occasionally, one will trip me in the halls. I'm sure there are pleasant Slytherins though, but I haven't met them. They aren't hiding behind the stairs waiting for me, so I haven't made their acquaintance. And I think the whole lot of them are a bit more open to Loser's Lurgy than Hufflepuffs, truth be told."

"…Really? I'm sorry to hear that. Then it's a very good thing that you met me."

Luna considered this. "You seem nice."

"Only seem?" he muttered, leaning forward. "Can I make a bid for an 'are'?"

"If you want. What do you like to do? Do you sing?"

"Um, no. I do like to play games."

She beamed at him. "What kind of games?"

He raised an eyebrow at her reaction. "I see we have a common interest," he said, and suddenly pulled her off the window seat. She gasped. "I'm fond of sorting out the truth from the lies."

"I am too!" Luna exclaimed. "But what kind of games? Do you fancy crossword puzzles?"

"Yes, and name games. Anagrams in particular. I used to rearrange the letters in my name for hours when I was younger. It's just how my mind works."

"I know. Well, no I don't. But wait—you never answered my first question? Why are you researching souls?"

"Perceptive, aren't you?" he asked, smiling, and she sensed that something was even more amiss. From his body language, from his stature and the way his hands moved—she thought he was powerful. In some way. But not in another. Very weak in another way, and it showed in his smile. "I wish to…I want to try and store a soul."

"Store it?" Luna asked, puzzled. "I've never heard of that before. That's—out of the box."

"Or rather in the box, as it is," he said. "Actually, a soul has been stored before. But I'm trying something a little bit different with the idea."

"Oh. To what end?"

"Time. Time itself. It's rather complicated. I think that time is just a thing humans invented to stop themselves. Magic is timeless. If you just work your way around it, a whole new world will fall at your feet," he said, his expression growing more and more passionate. Almost feverish.

"I-I suspect that time is more cyclic than anything. You know, like the seasons."

"Yes, yes, death and rebirth. Again and again. For the greater end."

"You feel very strongly about this subject," Luna observed, watching him. He was turning out to be quite fascinating. "I would love to help."

"Then come with me to my time. Just for a moment," he said, laughing. She hesitated, and wondered what her mother would do in this situation.

"We could get to know each other here instead. In-between time. After a while, we can visit each other."

"I don't know if we will have this opportunity again," Tom insisted, looking sincere. "What did you require when you entered this room, Luna?"

"A conversation partner."

"And I just happened to be in the room at the exact time you entered it. Our times overlapped. Don't you see that this was a chance happening? Perhaps fated. But in essence, a fluke."

"Couldn't I just require you?" she asked.

"While I'm not actually in the room at the time…" He paused, considering it, then shook his head. "Think of the paradox. And you might get…something other than you expect. I wouldn't advise it."

"What if we chose a certain time to enter the room?" she insisted. "And there's only a certain you, isn't there?"

"Ah, you see, I'm in the past. The past to your present. You could summon me from any time in my future. Do you understand? And if I were to summon you, I could inadvertently summon a younger you."

"Oh…this truly is our only chance," Luna mused. "I'm rather worried. If there are so many paradoxes, how can I get back?"

"Simple. I would let you into this room, and you would require your time again. And I would imagine not a day, minute, or second would have passed in your absence. No one would be the wiser."

"So I could stay in your time for years and years," Luna said, wide-eyed. "And not a day would pass in my time. Daddy wouldn't know I'm gone. He wouldn't worry one wit."

"Yes, exactly," Tom assured her. "And you'll like my time. I have many things I wish to show you."

"Do you really? Sometimes people don't care for me that much."

"I don't see why not. But there is one favor I have to ask you. I'll have to keep you away from Hogwarts."

"Why?" Luna asked.

"A sudden student appearing upon the masses. Might be a bit suspicious, don't you think?"

"Where will you keep me?"

Somehow this was starting to go amiss again, and she frowned.

"Well, I have a place in mind. Several places, in fact. One location is right near Hogsmeade and the other place is a family heirloom. And I've actually stumbled upon a recent inheritance. I will see to your comfort, and you will have all the time in the world to help me with my research."

"Are you very sure my time won't continue in my absence?"

"Don't you trust me? I've tried to be very open with you, you know. You interest me, like I've said."

"Do we have to leave now? I'd rather stay for a spell and talk some more with you."

"Of course not," Tom said, but she could tell he was rather impatient. "Pull up a chair."

Suddenly a chair appeared and literally swept her off her feet. She slid towards the table and the chair stopped just in time. "What else do you have on your mind?"

"Nothing, really. But…I still don't see why you believe I can help you."

"I trust my instincts about people. I can tell you have potential. And I've never met anyone like you. It's new. I'm thinking of it as a challenge."

She paused. "To get to know you, of course. That's all I meant."

"That's nice. That really is. I did wonder who my conversation partner would be. I'm very excited, actually. But I have a feeling…I have a feeling you're a bit sad too."

"…What makes you say that?" Tom asked, looking at her carefully.

"I'm not positive. How long have you been researching? Do you forget to go outside since you're so pale?"

"…Did I fo-yes, I go outside."

Somehow, she doubted that. "No one else was in here with you. If you wanted helped, why didn't you ask someone from your time?"

"…Ravenclaws. They always have a question for everything. I'm a rather private person. I like keeping to myself."

"Then-," she began, counting the number of queries and inquires she had in her mind on her fingers. She would run off fingers soon, sadly.

"How about you sing for me?" he asked quickly. "I'm in the mood for a diversion."

She blinked. "I don't sing for people."

"You said a moment ago that you liked to sing. Was that a lie?"

"No, I sing to myself. And by myself, too."

"…So you are admitting that you talk to yourself?"

"Well, that too. I've been in this room once and required someone who would talk about all the things that I like to talk about. It gave me another me, and I don't know if the room was trying to be funny. This time I left a little variety in my request."

"That had to be…two of you in a room," he mused. "I've never thought of that method of duplication."

"Really?" Luna asked. "It was a little unsettling, I suppose. I don't like talking to myself. I already know what I'm going to say."

She didn't add that she had let her other self out of the room on that occasion. Think how sad it was— to exist just for a brief moment of chit-chat. Well, she was sure her other self was out and about and having a high time of it. Living a double life was a little trying though.

"But in efficiency, think of it. There would be two of me, unaltered, working together towards the same goal."

"Or against each other," Luna pointed out. "I'm very serious. I had a bit of an argument with myself, actually."

"Oh." He looked amused. "Do you mind if I ask what about?"

"A little. Things got heated, and I'd rather put it behind me. But I wouldn't do duplicate myself, if I were you. What's that?"

He looked at the flower in the bell jar. "It's a lotus flower. Apparently, there are those types of lotuses that do have jewels in the center. You just have to keep a sharp eye to disguise between the different breeds."

"Oh, it doesn't have to be bejeweled to be beautiful," Luna said, reaching across the table and drawing the jar closer. "It's speckled and freckled, you know. You'll miss all the undiscovered colors while only looking for a rare gem."

He took the jar away from her, and she was about to demand it back. She wasn't though looking at it by any measure.

"…What do you consider to be a good conversation partner, Luna?" he began lightly, his voice like a caress.

"Why, someone who is fascinating to speak with."

"Did you know there are ways of conversing without saying a word?"

She stared at him and shook her head.

"Do you want me to show you?" he muttered, smiling.

"All right," Luna agreed. "Show me, then."

She had no idea what to do when he moved even closer. She had no idea what to do when he placed one of his hands in the small of her back, either.

"Um—."

"Shh," he said, and she was starting to think his smile wasn't a good thing at all. "Be quiet. Silence is the point of this exercise. Try and relax."

He pulled her against him, and she felt his breath play around her forehead. She soon felt his lips on her forehead. Not kissing. There was no kissing. He was just…very close. She felt him smile and run his hands along her arms, barely touching her.

She gasped a bit. "I-."

He placed a finger on her lips. "Do not utter a word. Not until I say so. It's part of the game, you see."

Luna had not remembered starting a game or knowing the rules. This was certainly a game she had never played before. It was like…trying to outlast each other. That was the only idea she had on this matter. She had also never had anyone particularly this close to her. It felt like a million of small, little wings were running against her skin, and to her surprise, she trembled.

And why did he still get to speak?

"What do you think this means?" he inquired and touched his lips to her collar bone. His hand was touching her skin now, just above her hip bone. She hadn't realized how sensitive those areas truly were.

"That—."

She received a sharp pinch from those same fingers that minutes ago were being ever so gentle. So she would have to speak without talking, then. She reached out to touch him, but he maneuvered himself where her hands were against her sides.

The way he moved was quite unnatural. The way he only seemed to be playing with the idea of sensations was quite unnatural. But though unnatural, he was quite talented at it. Luna became curiously aware of every part of her body. It was dangerous, to be sure, and she tasted and wondered at his touch.

She leaned forward to touch his mouth with her lips. He merely moved his head to the side, not bothering to hide his dagger of a smile.

Then, Luna reasoned, thinking in terms of the game, there are surely other ways to touch someone. She touched her cheek to his, and waited. Then some inspiration struck her, and she hummed. It wasn't singing by any measure but for something so new, something old should come out of it, right?

He moved away to look at her. She must have done something wrong. But she still didn't know if the game was over.

"Well…usually, I get a different reaction for my efforts."

She blinked. "Was I wrong?"

"…No. By all means, I look forward to a little variety," he said, crossing his arms. "I have a feeling you won't refuse my invitation. Shall we go? I can sneak you out of Hogwarts much easier at night."

Luna stopped and glanced at his hands, still in their previouis positions. He moved them away slowly as if not to frighten her. As if he could frighten her very easily if he wanted to.

"Maybe we were just meant to meet this one time," she said in a whisper.

He laughed. "Afraid?"

"No," she answered. My mother would go with him, she thought. It's an adventure. "I suppose it doesn't hurt to try."

"Is that a yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded, and he took a piece of her hair in his fingers gingerly. "You do realize you have words in your hair."

Luna thought he was referring to her hair beads but she could never be quite sure. "I have words everywhere," she confided.

"I have all the time in the world to read them, then. After you, my dear."

He motioned to the door and linked his arm through hers. This was ever so dangerous. She was secretly thrilled. In such danger and potential for darkness, sometimes beautiful things were born.

Something truly magical. This will be a most marvelous adventure, she thought as they stepped through the door together.

Come what may, this will be a rare gem indeed.

&&&

Thanks for reading! The next drabble is a Ginny and Luna friendship ficlet.


	3. At the Crossroads

Disclaimer: All character's you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author notes: This is just a drabble about a younger Ginny and Luna. Also, on the subject of A Chance Happening and its continuation…well, in this little series, sure, I could and will write more of that storyline about Tom and Luna. If no one minds it being spaced between other stories and drabbles, then it's all good :)

At the Crosswords

"Why does the windmill spin without wind?" Luna asked, squeezing her mother's hand lightly to get her attention.

For it was not what one would consider a gusty day in the least. The village was quite still, poised like a cat about to pounce. To be honest, Luna preferred the wind. She had begged her mother to braid the special blue ribbons in her hair just for the occasion.

"Oh, you've noticed that," her mother said, sounding somewhat sad. "Well—it's magic."

Luna had never seen her mother be sullen over an act of magic. "Bad magic? Secret magic? Like the type you experiment with?"

Her mother laughed, and Luna did so wish there was wind to carry the sound near and far. Her mother's laughter was like bells, you know.

In fact, the very essence of her mother was a bell. The young woman had a very charming way of carrying herself and could infect a whole crowd with her moods. But there was always something that made the people—who looked once—turn away quite quickly and never glance back again.

"It's not magic, my Lunabird, as much as it is the state of magic. It's just the way this world works, for better or for worse. I could tell you the secret, you know."

Luna waited with a baited breath. Her mother paused to look into the bakery's windows and several men gave the pair a wide berth. Rather like water rushing around a strange stone, Luna thought.

"I could tell you," her mother mused. "But I think I won't."

Luna's face crumbled and she stared at the ground, kicking at the cracks in the stone pathway.

"Dearheart, will you wait here while I take a much needed trip to the Apocathary for fiddled ferns? I have no idea how long I will be. I may get distracted along the way."

She brightened and twirled the tip of her blue ribbon with her finger, the picture of innocence. "Where is here, exactly?"

Her mother smiled, looking unconcerned. "Wherever you are at the moment, I imagine. There can soon be here, and here there. Particularly if one takes the path that just happens to be behind the bakery. Well, I must be off. Wait here, now, and remember, touch your charm bracelet if anything bothers you."

Luna nodded and waited, pretending to eye the treats in the window with great interest. The moment she saw her mother's woven cloak disappeared about the corner, she laughed and promptly set off on the small, previously unnoticed path just adjacent to the bakery.

It has not been traveled often, she thought and clapped with glee. The path the least traveled and I am traveling it. Indeed, the small, blue stones were overgrown with every sort of weed pushing their way stubbornly up from the ground.

There were orange and red flowers lining the path and even more flowers dotting the landscape. The grass was wild and arched like several little hands giving a greeting.

"Hello," she sang out, waving to them. It was so immensely green, green, green everywhere that it was as if being wrapped in a warm, familiar blanket. This was the otherland, the out of bounds, and the end of the armadillo tail. Luna blinked.

What if she met an Other? What did an Other look like? How could one tell it apart from the Sames?

Luna began to hurry now, enjoying the sound of the rocks beneath her new shoes. Brush, brush, brush, they said in the beginning of her journey. Crunch, crunch, grunch, they protested near the middle.

In reality, it had only been a few minutes but Luna pretended it had been months. Then the thought of being separated from her mother for months—months!—got caught in the net of her thoughts.

She lost her energy and slowed to a slug's pace.

"I'm not going to cry," Luna announced to all present. "I must be brave. I have to know the secret of the windy tower."

Indeed, the windmill had become a tower infested with the powers of dark beings. Who knows what evil lurked at the heart of its old foundation?

"They say the wind protects this tower," Luna whispered, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun. "It slashes and howls and roars at all who enter within its unspeakable realm." She gripped her walking stick in a fever, gulping a little.

And here was the Wind. The Weresome Wind of the Wolves of Wisconsin. She gasped as it flew at her face, its claws extending to pull her special ribbons out of her hair. Alas, it had discovered her one true weakness. Buzzzzzz, it promised with a dark eternity in some forgotten language, the language of the terrors that lay in every man's heart. _Buzz._

"Who says that?" a voice inquired among the reeds. "And that's just a little old honey bee. If you leave it alone, it won't sting you. That's what Charlie told me, and he knows everything."

The bee flew by peaceably, unhindered. Luna turned to look at the owner of the voice. An Other? The grass parted like a veil and Luna stood her ground, listening as it came closer. She held her breath then exhaled in confusion.

Before her stood an Other that looked like her. Well, not exactly like her. It had red hair like…flames. Oh!

"Your head is on fire, did you know?" Luna asked politely.

"And yours has dripping moss on it, did you know," the other responded. Actually, Luna did not know that. She reached up and patted her head cautiously. The Other looked at her curiously, wrinkling a very human nose. But oh, she had speckles. On her face and on her arms.

"What do all those little dots mean?"

"I don't know," the Other said thoughtfully. "Everyone in my family has them. But Dad calls them freckles. I suppose they don't mean anything."

"Oh," Luna said sadly.

"Yeah. I don't like them one bit."

"I like them," Luna corrected. "I think they are really interesting."

"Yeah, I guess. Who said something about a tower?" the Other inquired, putting her hands in the pockets of what appeared to be a boy's—a human one's—old playclothes.

"Oh, that one there." She pointed to the windmill that was suddenly quite visible through the foliage.

"That's not a tower. My dad told me it was something that mills the wind and then the Muggles eat it. Oh, I remember now, duh, it's a windmill."

"You're a witch?" Luna asked, surprised.

"Oh…are you?" Luna nodded. "I'm Ginny," the Other offered.

"I'm Luna," she returned. "And you're not an Other?"

"No," the girl whispered, her brown eyes growing wide. "What's an Other?"

"It's what's in the windmill. It's why the windmill spins without wind."

"That's stupid," the girl said, with pronounced judgment in her small frame.

"No, it isn't!" Luna exclaimed. "My mother said so. There is something hidden within the mill. Something everyone wants to keep secret. I've been walking all this time without anything to drink or eat so I can discover it and properly out it."

"…Adults do keep secrets sometimes," Ginny agreed solemnly. "But how will we out it?"

Luna tilted her head. "We? It's really one per adventure today. Very sorry."

"Oh, fine then. I was going to let you have some of my mother's biscuits. They are really good, and I have three left," Ginny said, pointing at the small bag at her feet. Luna thought something had smelt good, and the bag confirmed her suspicions. "But if you want to go on alone, I'll have to eat them all by myself."

"…I suppose it can be a quest for two," she relented.

"Great!" Ginny beamed and they sat on the path. Luna took her biscuit and wondered how to break the news.

"Well, since you are my sidekick now, I'm afraid you're going to have to learn how to be a bard. Every good sidekick is a good bard."

"Wait a minute," Ginny said through her mouthful of crumbs. "How do we know you're not the sidekick?"

Luna thought that was a very silly question, all things considered. "I'm the one who set out on this quest," she said reasonably.

"I am the one who saved you from the bee."

"A chance of good fortune. Or perhaps you are a villain in disguise, trying to trick me."

"Maybe the bee was a distraction. Just to make me trust you."

"It's settled, then…"Luna murmured. "The bee was the true fiend."

"A bug can't be a bad guy," Ginny protested. "The bad guy must at least somewhat human and tall, dark, and handsome. And most of the time, really, really smart too."

"…Really?" Luna whispered, raising an eyebrow. That description didn't sound bad at all, actually.

"Yes, but all with a wicked heart, and he would a right nasty piece of work," Ginny added, nodding wisely. "So of course, the hero—_or heroine_-- will vanquish him."

"What would the hero be like, I wonder?" Luna asked, savoring her biscuit and the good company.

"The hero would be unexpected, and his heart will be pure. He would also be brave and kind and quite noble. The noblest in all the land."

Luna mulled over this bit of information. "I suppose so. But doesn't the title of the villain and hero, as well as the heroine and her sidekick, depend on how one views it?"

"It most certainly does not!" Ginny said, crossing her arms. "That's a load of rubbish."

Luna shrugged. "Then I am the heroine."

"No!" the red hair protested fiercely, pulling the biscuit bag away.

"Really, yes."

"Stop it. I've been practicing, you see. I've been listening to the stories."

"So have I."

"Hah, you thought the villain was the insect. I'm sorry but that's the sidekick."

Luna felt quite cheated. However, she preferred to see the Other than defend her title. "I don't mind," she said after awhile. "But we really should be going."

"I have a plan," Ginny said, leaning forward and whispering in Luna's ear. "Mum's extra biscuit. With it, we'll lure the Other out into the open."

"Then what?" Luna asked.

"Beast and stuff like that always hate the light. So it will melt."

Luna was scandalized. "If it's a puddle, who would I show it to? Whoever heard of taking a picture of a puddle for the paper?"

"That doesn't matter. We would have saved the village. Don't you want to save the village?"

She paused. "The Other has never really done any harm."

"Not yet," Ginny said ominously.

"Well…if we must," Luna relented sadly.

"Don't be sad," her friend said. "Mum will have more biscuits for us later. And my brother Bill will be home for the weekend. We can tell them we are heroines!"

"The both of us?" she chirped, sitting up.

"Yeah! Two for one and one for all."

Ginny grabbed Luna's hand and they were off down the path. The windmill was in a small, abandoned clearing. It appeared that no one had been inside the structure for years. The material and old wood looked like broken finny wings, ridden and broken. The stones had been covered in green and grey. It was rather small upon approach.

"You know, I'm rather nervous," Luna admitted.

"Me too," Ginny agreed, taking out the biscuit. Luna watched as the small girl crept up to the entrance. She was very agile and her pigtails moved with her body. Luna wanted pigtails now and made a note to ask her mother about it. Ginny placed the biscuit gently on the threshold, arranging the treat just right. Then she sprinted back towards Luna.

"Quick hide!" the red hair commanded, and Luna hurried towards a shrubbery and ducked behind it. Ginny positioned herself behind a tree, and together, they waited for the appearance of the beastie.

Luna began to count the leaves in the trees out of boredom.

"Hey, it isn't working," Ginny's whisper drifted over to her.

"Well, it may not be hungry. Oh! I think I know. The Other probably has its own food inside."

"Oh…well…what now?"

"Should we go in? The Other could be very friendly and hospitable."

"But we don't know that for sure. Do you think we can climb to the top?"

"No," Luna said. "I'll go in and see. Then you can follow me if it's all right."

"Throw a rock first. There could be a mad ax man standing guard!"

Feeling the warning was warranted, Luna picked up a small, white pebble. She moved closer and quietly tossed the rock inside. It skipped happily across the ground and pinged into the threshold, quite peacefully.

"It's great looking ahead," Luna said, smiling at the lack of axes, and she strolled into the entry way. Inside it was entirely spirals. There were spiraling stairs and spirals in the stones and a thin veil of dust hovered in the air, sparklingly and spiraling into circles like merry sprites or dust-clods of butterflies or the reflection of the sun when it was settling to bed.

"It's all right," Luna called over her shoulder. Ginny followed her cautiously and once inside, looked around, her nose wrinkling again.

"Eurgh, it's all musty. Mum would have a fit. There's certainly no one here."

Luna was about to protest when a small, struggling sound reached their ears. Ginny gasped, her eyes widening. "There really is something in here," she muttered, looking shocked.

"Well, of course there is," Luna said, shaking her head.

"I was just playing around. I thought you were joking," Ginny protested, uncertainty clouding her pale features. "This is really serious. I…I think whoever it is--or whatever it is--is in pain. Do you reckon we should go for help?"

Something crashed over their heads, like chains being drug upon the floor.

"No, the help we would seek is most likely the help that bound the Other," Luna reasoned. "It would do no good."

She put her foot on the first step, and Ginny grabbed her elbow. "This isn't safe."

"No decent adventure is. What would a true hero do?"

The red head paused then nodded. "Okay. Be careful on the stairs. It doesn't look like it will hold up if you run. And test if the step is safe before you put your full weight on it."

Luna smiled and was happy for the help. She took Ginny's advice, testing each step carefully. Ginny followed, mimicking her movements to a tee.

On top…at the top, there was absolutely nothing. An empty space. A window, with a small, green plant in a vase. And a bowl of old, green water on the floor. Besides that, nothing. Luna frowned.

"Where did the noise come from, then?" Ginny asked. "There has to be something up here…unless it was a ghost."

"Look, parchment…" Luna pointed out, and indeed there was a bird-shaped piece of parchment on the floor. It was unlike anything Luna had ever, ever seen before. She picked it up carefully and held the small wonder in her cupped hands.

"Wow," Ginny whispered, peering curiously at the marvel. "That's beautiful. Look, it even has feathers drawn on it."

"Yes," Luna said, utterly deliriously happy. "It's so, so….imperfect."

"Huh, what do you mean? Whoever made it did better than I ever could."

"No, no," Luna mused. "The feathers are not arranged in a single line. They are all rumpled like the bird has actually been in flight."

Ginny smiled. "Oh, I get it now. Who do you think made it?" Luna shook her head in puzzlement. "Wait!" Ginny hissed suddenly. "Look there, under your feet. It's a trap door."

She looked. The settling dust outlined a small square under her feet. And Luna noticed something else entirely.

"The dust has been stirred up. Whoever was here up must have heard us and snuck away."

"Not too far, I imagine."

"Shall we?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's," Ginny said, nodding her heard furiously, making her pigtails bounce on her shoulders. "Anything that made that sweet little sparrow can't be all bad."

"Actually, this is a hawk," Luna corrected. "A predator, as a matter of fact."

"Whatever," Ginny said. "Let's go, it will get too far ahead of us." She moved aside and Ginny opened the trapdoor and then promptly jumped back.

"I don't think we will have to worry about it escaping detection," Luna said.

Two large eyes peered up at them from the shadows.

"Er…" Ginny said.

"Hello," Luna piped up. "We found your bird!"

"Yeah, it's brilliant." Ginny added.

The eyes blinked. "Are you okay, um, down there?"

"Do you speak English?"

It whispered. "Yes, masters. Please, don't punish me."

"Why would we punish you?"

"Because that's what happens when the humans come back. You're human."

"N-well, yeah, but we won't hurt you, we promise."

It lifted its head through the trapdoor. "Oh, uh, you're goblin," Ginny said, stepping back.

"A baby goblin!" Luna cried out. It looked at the floor, not meeting their eyes. "What's that around your neck? A goblin necklace?"

"A chain. I am trapped here. I was taken from my clan."

"Why?" Ginny asked. It shook its head, sitting at their feet.

"Then we will free you," Luna said.

"Please do. I would forever be grateful."

"Um…" Ginny sounded unsure. "If we do that, you won't hurt us in return, will you?"

"I will."

Luna gasped. "What?"

"Because I hate you humans. Look at what you've done to me, to my people."

"Hey, we didn't do this to you," Ginny protested. "And that's a poor excuse for gratitude, to hurt us for helping you."

It grinned wickedly at them. "Let's go, Luna. He doesn't want our help."

"But…you…that can't be, you wouldn't really…" Luna said. Everyone had a spot of good in them. She just knew it.

"Malice is in their natures, I guess," Ginny whispered.

"But the bird! What about the bird? You made such a pretty bird."

"…What of it?"

"You can't be bad. Ginny, didn't you just say that?"

"So what if he likes birds? He certainly doesn't like us," Ginny said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I like birds too," Luna said quickly. "That's what my mother calls me, her Lunabird. Don't you like birds, Ginny?"

"Yes," she answered. "But--."

"What's your favorite bird?" the goblin asked, appearing interested.

"The eagle," Luna responded quickly. "For Ravenclaw." The goblin looked at Ginny.

"…Sparrows," the red head said, looking uncomfortable.

It grinned. "You favor the hawk, don't you?" Luna pressed on. "See, we have something in common. We are not so very different."

"…For sacks of flesh, you are not so unbearable," it growled, scratching its ear.

"Does that mean you wouldn't harm us?"

"…it does."

"Give us your word," Ginny said quickly. "You have to promise. Bill told me goblins always treasure their words. It's sacred to them."

"As it is to me. If you free me, I swear will not hurt you. But I will not stay here."

"Fine with us. So you're chained up. How do we get you loose?"

"My fingers can not push the lock free. You see, my fingers are too thick. Only human hands can set me free."

"Where is the lock?" Luna inquired. It pointed to the trapdoor.

"That sounds…too easy," her friend muttered.

Luna had to admit that it did. "Do you also promise there are no tricks? Like leaving us in the trap instead…" Luna mused.

It winced. "The door would have closed instantly once the lock was free."

"Ah-hah!" Ginny said. "Well, well. Never mind, then."

Luna felt a bit sad. "That was most unkind, Mister Goblin."

"…I could hold the door open. I am strong enough."

"Yeah right. Like we would trust you after that little lie."

"'M not a liar," the goblin hissed. "You would have had food in the trap. It would not have harmed a hair on your head."

"I'll go in," Luna said. "If he promises to hold the door."

"And I'll stay and watch him. I could go for h-…oh wait. Do you promise not to steal either of us away?"

It winced again. "Oh for--Luna, this is impossible. He's got a million little plans in his head. We can't cover all of them. Forget it, he's hopeless."

"All right, all right!" it hissed. "I promise I'll-I'll not do a thing but leave."

"And then do what exactly? Bring your own clan back to the village to burn it down?"

"ALL RIGHT! I promise I won't tell of this village to my fellows."

"And not hurt, harm, or steal any other humans along the way?" Luna added.

"A-ALL RIGHT! GET ON WITH IT!" it screamed again, glaring spitefully at the pair.

"All right," Luna said and stepped into the shadows of the trap. It was quite a narrow tunnel, and she could hardly believe the baby goblin had managed to endure it.

It was not difficult to spot the lock and her fingers touched the spring with ease. The chain darted away in the darkness. The door started to shut but instead there was a breaking sound of splintering wood. Ginny shrieked.

"Ginny!" Luna shouted, crawling as fast as she could back through opening. The red head stood near the window, clutching at the wall.

"I'm f-fine, he just scared me. I think he tried to push me out the window…you know, _just_ leaving."

Luna's face crumbled.

"Hey…we did it though."

"Yes," Luna whispered. "I suppose we did."

"Well, that's just how they are, goblins. We did try."

"I was just hoping that we had made a difference. I thought, you know…"

"I know. I'm sure we did. He just doesn't know it yet. It will hit him later, what happened."

"Oh! You mean like an epiphany," Luna said, beaming.

"Um…"

"A great realization!"

"Yeah. Well…"

Her charm bracelet hummed slightly like a little chime. "That's mother! She's calling me."

"Oh. So you can't come over?"

"Not today. Tomorrow, then?"

"Great," Ginny said, smiling. "Is that a promise?"

Luna nodded, taking her new friend's hand. "That it is. I do treasure my words, you know."

"I know."

They walked half the way back to the village before parting on the crosswords. But Luna felt that what had occurred between them would lead them on the same path for quite some time.

Thanks for reading.

Next drabble: another separate Tom/Luna.


	4. Out of Sight

Disclaimer: All the characters that you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author notes: Heh, another Tom/Luna. :) Hope you guys enjoy!

Out of Sight...

To be honest, perhaps she shouldn't have interfered.

Luna was not told about the boy in the Weasleys' basement. Ginny never wrote to her about it. Hermione did not mention it when she visited Luna's home during the war.

It had been weeks since Hogwarts had finally surrendered to the inevitable closing, and Luna had been bored. The leaves were turning an orangey, phoenix tone, and the village fires would begin as the fall season grew closer. She liked how the fire danced, and she was looking forward to the event.

Luna had just started into the garden when she ran into a breathless Hermione.

"I just needed to step away for a little bit," Hermione said, smiling wearily. Her hands shook with exhaustion, and her hands were scarred. One hand was encased in a plain black glove. "I thought I had to take my mind off of it to keep my wits about me. Who else could help me be distracted?"

Though Hermione was unannounced, Luna had welcomed her into her home.

"Daddy's out," Luna said, handing her a cup of tea and waiting patiently. She had discovered that Hermione usually talked about everything, eventually. It wasn't that she was a gossip by any means. She just always had a lot on her mind.

"Ginny told me where you lived, Luna. I do hope I'm not intruding," the girl said, placing her red cloak across the chair. She looked around at the kitchen.

"Not at all. So Harry and Ronald are back."

"Yes, and they're all right. Are those birds in the ceiling, in the wallpaper?"

"Indeed, and there are cats in the parlor. One must keep things balanced. Daddy says that if you touch the paper, you can enter another world…with another you, but I haven't done so yet. Or maybe I have, and I could be a paper person and just not recall. When can one tell if the world has changed, and I don't believe that two people can exist in the same place and have the same name. It's like two mirrors sitting side by side, you know. The cats have taken up knitting and spinning the most wonderful yarns."

"Oh. Oh, great. It's very lovely. You see, it's working already."

"Where have you three been off to? You didn't come back to Hogwarts."

"Well, that. First we went to where-where Harry's parents were murdered. They are buried in a cemetery not too far, actually right in Godric's Hollow. I've never seen a wizarding cemetery before, and Harry actually has a long line of relatives there. He said—he said he wished to be buried there, if it came down to it, and I told him he was being fatalistic. We need hope to survive this, and I knew it was a bad idea to let him go there, Luna, I really did. You know him though, once he gets his mind set on something, he'll never let it go. You should have heard the row we had over it, though, I imagine the whole town overheard it. Thank goodness Ron was there, he kept his head about it, and I-oh, I'm so sorry. I'm babbling."

Luna peered into the cup. "I didn't give you a Babbling Beverage. That's just tea, really."

"I know," Hermione laughed. "Imagine what that would do to me. I…I guess I haven't been able to say a lot of things that are on my mind. There's really no time for it."

"What happened to your hands? Did you stumble upon a Heliopath or a flaming nargle?"

"I wish those existed for me to do so, Luna. I do. We did find something. I was holding it at the time it activated."

"Activated?" Luna inquired, forgiving the display of a closed-mind for this new information. Hermione frowned.

"Yes, you see, we are searching for very dangerous magical objects. I didn't think to use gloves for it. Did you know it almost killed me?"

Luna stared at the cup in Hermione's hand and saw the thin liquid ripping with her motion. The cup chatted against the plate like a pair of nervous teeth.

"And Ron. He wasn't able to…I felt so bad, that he was watching and helpless. I was helpless. Harry was helpless. No one knew what to do, it happened so fast."

"What happened?" Luna asked, starting to become draw in very quickly.

"The funniest thing…a complete accident. I fell. And there was this lake. Where we were, it was an underground lake. And there were—well, never mind that. The water did something to it. I think, and don't call me mad—well, I know you won't, Luna—that besides just those things, there were souls in the water. I'm quite serious. I felt something in the water with me, flowing around me. Speaking."

"Speaking like they are inside of you…" Luna whispered. "The Veil. I've heard those voices before, Hermione. You were not afraid , were you? They were trying to help."

"No. No, Luna. I was not afraid but they were not trying to help me. They were angry, Luna. So angry and there was so much hurt and rage, and I couldn't be afraid, I don't know why. The object that I had activated was overcome by these souls. The object itself feeds on souls to regain itself. And flesh, but—." Hermione laughed bitterly. "It had taken its fill, apparently."

"What happens when the object absorbed the souls?" Luna asked, her eyes wide.

"…Well. Nothing worth mentioning."

"That's why you've come back," Luna pressed on. "You've been gone for so long that you wouldn't have come back unless something had made you. You needed something."

"Luna, that's ridiculous. Ron missed his family. We are all tired. Ah, there it is, we were exhausted. I was practically dreaming of the Burrow. Isn't it odd that I didn't dream of my own home."

"But you left the Burrow. You came here to rest, Hermione, you just said."

Hermione frowned at her. "If I am imposing, I will leave," she said, pursing her lips in a very McGonagal-like fashion.

Luna smiled. "And if you are opposing, you will stay. I remember our talks. I've missed them. I've missed all of you."

"How's Neville?"

"Didn't you hear? Neville left Hogwarts too. He's gone to St. Mungo's to be with his parents. To protect them properly. The war has spread to that area, I believe."

"Oh…I didn't know that. Harry would want to know. Anyway, I did see the Quibbler article. I have to say, Luna, that's not wise. That's really not wise."

"But did you laugh?"

"Harry did. I remember."

"Then it had a string of truth in it. We can laugh at the truth. We can't laugh at a lie."

"Oh, I suppose. But honestly, why did your father write about Voldemort? That article about his…oh well, it really put your father in danger."

"He knows. Journalism is a tricky, dangerous mistress. Besides, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named won't be able to stand people laughing at him."

"How did you know his…what was it, a band during that time, his favorite—God, I can't believe I'm asking. Though I've been meaning to ask since we've got here."

"Daddy wrote to McGonagall. She knew him during her school days. Can you imagine? I wrote her soon after, to find out what he was like then. We at least wanted his true name. You know, if he was so very bad. I got a very rude reply. Even her handwriting was rude."

"Rightly so," Hermione agreed, sipping her tea with judgment.

"I don't see why that is. Why must that be, if it's an eye-witness account? It's important."

"You know what is important--to forget he was ever human. That's why I came here, to get my bearings, to understand when I look at him, he's not human," Hermione snapped.

"…Now? But, Hermione, eye-witness accounts say he's very distincty not human in appearance. That's why Daddy suggested he was a vampiric piece of celery from Callisto. So I don't understand."

"Never mind, Luna. Never mind. This is a war where we have to forget ourselves."

"I have to disagree. In a war, it's most vital to remember yourself."

Hermione looked at her and smiled again, very warmly this time. "That's a nice sentiment. Do you mind terribly if I spend the night here?"

"Not at all. I've very pleased to have you here. Will Harry stop by?"

"…We'll see. If he can spare a moment."

Luna thought that was very odd, and she felt rather sad.

"If you go to the left of the stairs, there is a bed already for guests. You see, Daddy has a lot of important people over."

"Oh, who? If you don't mind me asking."

"The most brilliant theorists of our time. One is an inside person for the Ministry. He's in the paper department."

"Paper department? Historical documents, you mean?"

"He specializes in 'cleaning out the rubbish'."

"You mean...literally?"

Luna nodded. "Can you imagine what all he knows?"

"…Yes, I can. Thanks for that, Luna. I'll be upstairs."

As Luna watched her go, she felt the sharp edge of a betrayal. Hermione had not said it was all right to wander off to the Weasleys. She quickly packed a basket of treats and put on her blue cloak. Something was happening, and she was going to find out about it.

&&&

Of all the things Luna had imagined, she did not expect the Burrow to be pitch black. There were no lights. No small, welcoming candles in the window.

Puzzled, she went around to the garden. There! A small light from the cellar window…Quietly, Luna put the basket aside and snuck towards the window, leaning just near enough to hear and not be heard.

"D'you…I didn't think it would be like this, mate."

"How'd you think it would be, Ron? A bloody bed of roses?"

"Well—yes, for the bloody part. I just didn't know…when Hermione said pieces of his soul, I didn't think one of the things would actually be looking at me."

All in all, odd. Luna peeked and promptly held back a gasp.

Ronald and Harry were standing with their backs turned towards the window, thank goodness. Mr. Weasley was near the door, looking both anxious and determined. She had never seen good Mr. Weasley look so terribly shaken. As if he were seeing the two familiar faces, the one of his son and the boy who was like his son, for the very first time.

And there was thing that really stood out: a boy with the blackest hair she had ever seen, much darker than Harry's, tied up to a chair in a very Muggle fashion. A move she was certain was intentional since a good Silencio charm would have replaced the need for a gag.

The boy was bruised too, in a similar form to Hermione. And his eyes…oh dear Merlin, his eyes just stared straight ahead as if he couldn't see a thing. As if he were blind. But he was alert and his mouth formed a disdainful smirk around his gag, and…what were they doing? What was Harry doing?

"Dad, come on," Ron said, turning to his father. "You know that old Dumbledore saying? I can't remember all of it, but this isn't what he would have wanted."

"How do you know?" Harry asked sharply. "He's gone. He left this up to me. Deal with it."

The boy lifted his chin and seemed to smile, staring past Harry and yet staring right at him.

"Listen, boys. Harry, old Mad-Eye…I can Floo him."

"They'll just try and stop me."

"No…they won't. They know what war is."

The boy seemed to be frustrated at being denied the right to speak. It actually seemed to bother him more than being tied up.

"You can't do-er, that curse, can you, Harry?" Ronald inquired. "I mean, it doesn't matter, right?"

"I know one curse, Ron. The one I shared with Malfoy. The one I owe Snape for," Harry spat.

Mr. Weasley looked pensive. "I think this part of that monster may have information, though. It doesn't hurt to be cautious."

"…But he's a liar," a voice piped up from the stairs. Luna's heart melted in disappointment. Ginny. Ginny was on the stairs. "Dad, you won't get the truth from him. I've seen what he's like. He's not human. It's not the same as if it actually matter-"

"A truth serum. Tonks should have some spare vials," Mr. Weasley pressed on, giving the shadow on the stairway a warning look.

"Well, Dad's right. And Hermione's not with us. I think—after what happened—we should all decide together," Ron reasoned, crossing his arms.

"Get her here, then," Harry hissed, growing increasingly enraged by the boy's smirk.

"He isn't worth it, Harry," Ginny said again, from out of sight. "We'll find a way to destroy this piece of him. But let an Auror do this. You found the piece, you and Ron and Hermione. That was enough. Besides—it will hurt his pride to be done in by an Auror."

The boy clenched his fists, and Harry slowly lowered his wand.

"That would just _kill_ you, wouldn't it?" he asked, clearly enjoying the effect. Luna had never seen this Harry before, and she wasn't sure he liked him. This was the Harry that had taken her to the party?

"Enough of that," Mr. Weasley said, taking charge. "Ginny, up to your room. I want a word with you. Ron and Harry…go upstairs and forget about him. Forget about what happened in this room. I'll Floo in Moody and Tonks."

"And Lupin," Harry insisted, suddenly appearing quite lost and slumping as if all the energy that had made him so terrible had left.

"All right. I will get Remus for you, I promise."

Without a word to their prisoner—in fact, ignoring him—Ron and Harry took to the stairs, and Luna saw Ginny's shadow outlined in the light.

Mr. Weasley was the only one who looked at the boy.

"I know what you're thinking, and if I were you, I wouldn't try it. Those ropes are a gift. From Dumbledore himself. He sent them to us before he died. Just in case. Bless him, he thought of everything."

The boy's face darkened with a sudden burning intensity.

"Yes. I think he planned for you. He knew every move you were going to make. He once said to me that cruelty is predictable. This was after that piece of you possessed my little girl, in case you're wondering. So we knew you were coming. And you're getting exactly what you deserve. I would pity you. If I could, I would like to believe that I would."

The boy scoffed dismissively. Mr. Weasley made his way up the stairs and shut the door. There was still light in the small, cramped room. Luna stared at him. He was stoic. She was amazed, considering the situation. His head was bent as if in prayer or deep meditation. Or in the deepest of thoughts.

He was indeed blind. He could hear, apparently. But he was quite, quite blind. She couldn't imagine that. And she wondered if this was the reason Hermione had fled. Luna couldn't blame her now. This was too…too far cruel. One step too close to the edge. Harry was so close to it.

Why had Dumbledore sent the Weasleys the bonds?

Suddenly, the boy moved his head in her direction and seemed to stare at her. There was no malice in his features, just a sharp awareness.

Luna stood quickly and backed away.

The garden seemed completely soulless now, and the darkness matched the mood of the inhabitants of the house. Luna picked up her basket and planned to return to her home. Her bright, suddenly lovely home…but what would happen to the boy?

He was obviously an enemy. She had no idea of Ginny's possession by anyone, either. She gripped her basket and approached the Weasleys' door, knocking politely. The curtains moved to the side, and a pair of frightened eyes peered at her. She waved.

"Oh, dear. Luna, dear, is that you?"

"Yes, I am me. Most of the time, anyway. Aren't you you, most of the time, Mrs. Weasley?"

"That's her all right, Mum."

The door opened and Luna slipped inside. Ronald sat at the table, clutching a glass and looking pale. Still, he smiled in her direction.

"Hey, Hermione said she was going to stop by your place."

"She is at my place, Ronald. She's asleep."

"That's wonderful," Mrs. Weasley said. "The poor dear looked so tired under her eyes."

"What's in the basket? Top secret Ministry creatures come to wipe us all out?"

"You do realize there _is_ a small army being assembled."

"I wish they'd hurry it up, myself, and take this mess off our hands. Hey, Mum, what's the odds? You-Know-Who versus one of Luna's Heliopaths?"

"Heliopath?" Mrs. Weasley asked, mystified.

"Sun horses made entirely of fire. And they are peaceful creatures, Ronald, as you know."

"Nah, I wager the Heliopaths will kick arse. That guy needs some sun, anyway. Hopefully he's allergic."

"Oh…Luna," Harry said, leaning against the doorway. She looked at him slowly.

"Hello, Harry."

"Why's Hermione not with you?"

"She's taking a kipper, Harry. You should too, you know," Ronald said, toasting him.

"And taking a rest from me. I get it."

Ronald frowned and seemed about to protest. "Yes, Harry. She mentioned that as being her motivation for her visit," Luna said, putting the basket down on the table.

Ronald gaped and Mrs. Weasley whirled around. "Pardon?"

"Heh, an uncomfortable truth, eh. I'm not really that bothered by it. Not any more. At least it's out in the open."

"Luna probably misunderstood," Ronald said, giving her some unreadable look.

"Well, she had a lot on her mind. She needed to step away for a moment."

"Wonder what that's like," Harry said, crossing his arms.

"Er," Ronald muttered, taking Luna's basket and looking inside. "Hey, Mum, you don't have to cook! Luna's brought food. Food I tell you! Harry, mate, pull up a chair."

Harry did so sullenly, and Mrs. Weasley bustled around fetching the plates.

"Did Hermione tell you to come over here?" Harry asked. "If she didn't, what are you doing here?"

"Harry," Mrs. Weasley scolded, shocked.

"I'm here to find out what's going on," Luna said. "Biscuits for everyone, then."

"It's really none of your business," Harry said shortly.

"Mum, hurry with the plates," Ronald said.

"It usually isn't. Daddy always says that's the downside of being a journalist. You're usually not very popular."

"So that's your excuse now."

"Harry, button up," Ronald said, angrily. "Let's eat, for god's sake.

"That was very rude, you know."

"I know."

"All right. Luna, dear, maybe you should hurry along," Mrs. Weasley urged.

"It's also very rude to keep someone in your basement tied up where they can't defend themselves. Did you know?"

There was a ghastly silence.

"Uh…" Ron said, holding his biscuit in midair. "Oh hell."

"I see. You think it's wrong to tie up a monster," Harry said, his eyes looking very strange in the darkness.

"I think it's wrong to become a monster."

Harry flinched.

"All right, Luna, you've gone too far!" Ronald yelled, whirling on her.

"Hah, and you think he…he hasn't done worse!" Harry bellowed. "TIED UP, THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK IS THE WORST OF IT!"

"Does it matter if he has done worse? Is there a competition?" Luna asked curiously, looking to Ronald for confirmation.

"That will do," Mrs. Weasley said, pulling Luna up by her arm.

"What's all this, then?" Mr. Weasley asked, appearing in the doorway.

"Uh, Dad, Luna, um, I think she was watching through the window or something. You know, when we were downstairs."

"Or Hermione told."

"She did not tell, Harry!"

"No, she didn't tell me. It wasn't that difficult to find out."

"If you were sneaking around the shrubbery, I'm sure it wasn't," Mrs. Weasley said sharply.

"Oh well. I guess you'll read my point of view tomorrow in the Quibbler."

"You would publish this?" Harry asked, looking suddenly defeated. "On me? You would do that?"

"It's the truth, isn't it?"

"Hell, Luna, it isn't—it isn't," Harry repeated, and he looked away.

"You won't be publishing anything," Mr. Weasley said. "I'll talk to your father first thing in the morning. Now, that's enough yelling and shouting for tonight. Let's not say anything we'll all regret later."

"I'm not your enemy, Harry. I'm your friend," Luna said. "We are friends."

"…Well," Ronald piped up. "You have a funny way of showing it."

"No, I understand," Harry said softly. "But…but I can't afford to right now."

Luna left the Weasleys and didn't feel like going home.

She thought about the boy in the basement who was indeed a monster. A blind one, at that. Hermione was right. He looked so human at this point it was hard. And what had he done to Harry?

She walked her favorite path and did not feel one wit better. The wind whistled a merry tune past her ears and she felt grim. A butterfly danced with a small fairy and she was unmoved as a rock.

What had happened? How did this happen?

Luna found a fence post and leaned against it, incredibly weary. She felt like she had lost her only friends, and perhaps, if she were honest with herself, it had been her fault.

She sighed and watched her breath mist against the wind. Hopefully it would take her ill feelings away. Because she did feel as though she were right…though she could be wrong, and that bothered her immensely.

A flash of light caught her eye, and at first, she thought it was a playful will o' wisp. The fires of the season should not be starting yet, at least…

Then she noticed that the tips of those flames were black. She watched curiously as the fire grew closer in the distance. The hill was illuminated like the back of a sleeping giant. Suddenly, she heard the screaming.

"Hermione…" she whispered and began to run. Halfway over the hill, Hermione rushed towards her, unharmed.

"Oh, Luna, your home…"

Luna turned and watched all her memories go up into smoke. There were people just out of sight, but not out of mind. They moved amongst the shadows like dancers, complete with the purest mask. As if they had to hide their dark intentions with white, or to repel the darkness that they were dealing in…

"I—I have to save-."

"No! No! I'm sorry, it's too late!" Hermione yelled, pulling at her elbow. Luna allowed her to pull her alone, staring at the flames. All the pictures of her mother she had left at home to protect them from her housemates…all those pictures gone and they probably thought she had abandoned them.

"They got out, they got out, they had to have…" Hermione said in a mantra.

Then ahead of the pair was the roar of spells being fired in the direction of the Burrow. Death Eaters had appeared in circle around the house, laughing as the black flames spread quickly.

"RON!" Hermione screamed, and she left Luna at the crossroads of the path, running towards the house, her wand drawn.

"Don't worry, Hermione, we're out," a voice said from behind shadows. Luna stepped back, realizing in a moment what had occurred.

The Weasleys and Harry Potter stood in the clearing near the road.

"This was brilliant, Hermione," Ron said gently, and she rushed towards him, sobbing.

Something clicked in Luna's mind. A trick, she thought. It was a trick to get his own fellows to kill him in their stead. No wonder the window wasn't warded.

"We all agreed to it," Ron said, challenging anyone to express regret in his family. Luna continued to step back until she was among the shadows. Then she started to run. Hermione had not noticed her absence. She was too busy staring at the Burrow and the task at hand.

In fact, not a soul noticed until it was far too late.

&&&

She remembered what Ginny had told her. That during You-Know-Who's first reign of terror, the family had used a tiny escape route under the ground. Quite literally a burrow. That's probably how they had gotten past the wards the Death Eaters had cast.

Luna stood calmly at the top of the stairs while the fire and laughter danced outside the window. It was rather like watching a shape-shifter, except this one was on the inside.

"Hello," she called, gripping the banister tightly. "I won't hurt you."

Those seemed to be the most serious ideas: the greeting and the assurance that she would not maim him. She made her way down, afraid. She would not be able to go back. She would have crossed the river for good. However, she couldn't stop and think. She was afraid of what necessity would say.

Luna was relieved when she found he was pretending unconscious. It removed the initial awkwardness. However, she really needed him to stand up.

Black flames could burn witches. The flames themselves were sustained by magic itself, all the bits and pieces of it. So she really couldn't Levitate him out. His gag was gone. She didn't dare dwell on the reason why.

"The house is on fire," she said, poking him.

"Oh, really, I didn't notice." Well, he wasn't pretending anymore.

"That's a bad thing, you know."

"For me or for you?"

Luna was confused. "In general, it's a bad thing."

"Sometimes it can be rather useful in purification rituals."

Luna lamented. "Oh, I didn't mean 'in general'," she cried as several cinders danced around her head, nearly singeing her. "I meant, considering the fact that...well, it's about to consume us and all that will be left of our bodies is ashes. In general, you know."

"I know what you meant, girl," he muttered. Luna distinctly thought she heard the upstairs collapse somewhere in the house.

"Um…so we should be hurrying along," she spoke, trying to put some incentive in her soft tone.

"Considering I'm currently tied to a chair, that may be difficult."

"Oh!" Luna exclaimed, somewhat excited, and quickly undid the knots. However, she kept his wrists tied together.

"Keeping me on a short leash?" he inquired, looking halfway to her left. His eyes seemed to be almost foggy, or misty, as if a rainforest had made its home there.

"You can't see, so does it matter?" Luna asked, pulling him towards the stairs.

"I am blind, true. And yet I can still see that the stairs are completely blocked."

And he was right. Luna started to get a bit worried.

"Then…to the window!"

"Window?" he asked. "Right where everyone is gathered?"

"That's the last place they'd expect us," she added, pushing the chair towards it.

"I can't climb, dolt, my hands are tied."

"Kickaroos use their elbows to scale the clouds all the time, so you can too," she said firmly and guided him in that direction. He teetered on the chair, cursing.

"Do hurry," Luna piped up, feeling the room starting to become quickly suffocating.

"Why you-."

She decided he needed some assistance. In which she pushed him directly out of the window, holding it open just enough for him to wiggle through.

"Little-gah."

"Move a little. Like the earthworm would."

"I'll-!" She then decided he was waiting for her. Like a gentlemen.

"Thank you," she said and pushed past him through the window. He leaned away, seeming as far as he could while being pinned in a rectangle, but he couldn't distance himself entirely. Once outside, she pulled him through by the collar of his robes.

Indeed, the flames actually offered them cover, and they took it.

"Well, you see. You're all right now," Luna said, patting his shoulder.

"And you're not. I'M-."

She covered his mouth quickly. "You must have inhaled the smoke," Luna said sadly. "To do such a thing as attract their attention."

His eyes, though blind, narrowed dangerously.

"They are meant to kill you," Luna said, and that was the truth.

His eyes now darted to her face, and it seemed to torment him that he could not read her expression.

"And so you put us right in the middle of them," he whispered against her palm.

"Exactly," she chirped. "Now, hurry, take off your clothes."

"Excuse me?" he hissed.

"For the disguise. For you to dress like them, I would need to charm your clothes."

"…You're going for the sheep in wolf's clothing approach…that could work."

"Could and should," Luna said happily and tugged at his robes.

"Allow me to cast the enchantments. I can do so and keep my clothes on. You do have a wand, don't you?"

"I have a wand," she said. "But I don't trust you one wit, you know."

"Do you trust that if they find us, they will kill us?"

"Oh, that is a problem," Luna whispered. "Well, if you promise to give it back…"

"Cross my heart and all that rubbish, just give me the wand," he hissed, and she placed her wand carefully in his open palm.

The process was so subtle she almost missed it. She found she was standing up once more and that her pale blue robes had extended like bat wings. For someone so blind, he certainly had a good idea of what the robes looked like. Possibly better than the actual wearers of the robe. Something was amiss.

She opened her mouth to question this discovery but found she could not speak. She was staring through slits, little eye slits, and her mouth was clenched shut. It hurt, actually. She mumbled in protest.

"Ah, such a useful addition to the design, no?" he asked, listening to her general outrage as if it were music. She noticed he had an opening in the mask for his mouth and thought him a bit rude. "Well, lead me, then. Light the way. Show-."

"Aww ight," Luna said and took his hand. She was relatively sure that when the Death Eaters went on raids, they did not hold hands. But she could not be positive and she wondered if anyone would really notice if they were burning everything in range.

They passed through the black mass of robes and flecks of white unharmed. She thought it was quite amusing and was very happy. She led him to the right, directly into the forest near the Burrow. Soon, she thought, Aurors will be arriving, and it would be best to be out of sight and out of mind.

Luna did realize, however, that he had her under some of his control already. She could not shout for help, that was for certain. These robes seemed to be constricting, the further she led him from danger.

But he did need her, so she did not struggle. Luna reached a familiar clearing, right where the moonlight shone in a perfect circle like a great knowing eye.

"So…" he said, twirling her wand in between his fingers. "I trust we are out of sight. You have my gratitude. The only question is how am I going to repay you?"

He moved around her in a tight circle, and she followed his motions in a willing silence. She thought him very funny. He was as blind as an old bat and still, he was trying to move gracefully. She smiled.

"You're quite the little traitor, aren't you?" he muttered. "Answer me."

She found she could. "I would be. If I was betraying what I believe in, I would be a traitor."

"How convenient. Well, what about your previous alliance? I heard your voice above me, you know. In a house that small, privacy is non-existent."

"Then if you heard, you should know how I feel about this," she said, puzzled.

"By aiding me, you have turned against Harry Potter."

"I am loyal to my own thoughts. That's what Daddy says is most important. I am Harry's friend, though."

"Again, how convenient. On that note, you could betray anyone when their goals are not to your liking."

"I was for Harry. I didn't want him to become like you."

" 'Was' being the key word. So…my little light-bearer, you are in my hands now."

"Exactly. You need me."

"Hardly," he scoffed. "I do not need anyone."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"_Who_ am _I_?"

"Are you a 'what' then?" she asked, surprised.

"A—I am merely an extension of the Dark Lord's will, to be exact."

"Oh, how boring. So you're a minnow?"

"Don't deliberately misunderstand!" he snapped. "And that's 'minion'."

"What is? Your actual name is Minion? Oh dear, your parents must have disliked you."

"Who are you, then?" he asked, avoiding the question.

"My name is Luna Lovegood," she said happily. "And don't worry, I'll be taking care of you in the meantime."

"The meantime?"

"Yes, until you regain your sight. Then you can defend yourself properly. Then Harry can trounce you properly."

"...Your compassion stuns me," he said, and his mouth held an expression Luna had never seen before. She reached up, standing on the tips of her toes, and touched his mouth to try and get a feel for his meaning. He leaned back and almost stumbled, a clear look of surprise upon his face.

"Well, I won't be cruel to you in the meantime," Luna opined, and burst out laughing as she thought the wonderful sentence through. He seemed to flinch. "My house has burnt down," she continued on." So I'm not quite sure where to take you."

"Oh…May I make a suggestion?"

She smiled, even though he could not see it.

"Take me into…into a Muggle city."

"Isn't that against your Lord's will?" she asked lightly.

"My views on the Muggles are not a mystery. But it may be the last place that they search for me."

"Um, I…I have another place."

"No," he interrupted. "Think, girl, they are looking for you as well."

"It's a secret place. No one knows about it but me. Well, mother does but she won't tell."

"She will if they inform her of the company you keep, I assure you."

"They can't. She's dead, you know."

"…No, I did not know. Well, that's comforting," he muttered, looking away from her direction. "Now I have to worry about you."

"Why is that?" she asked, stepping closer. "I do make people nervous sometimes. I'm sorry. I won't hurt you, I promise."

"…Of that, I have no doubt," he admitted. "It's clear you mean no harm."

"I still don't understand how I've made you uneasy," she said, feeling a bit sad.

"Not uneasy. It would take a great deal more than that to make me uneasy. Come here, Luna, let me take a look at the person to whom I owe my life."

She blinked. "But you're…"

"No need to point it out. Come here."

She wandered closer, cautiously, not taking her eyes of the wand in his hand. He reached out and cupped her face suddenly, completing his motion with startling accuracy. She flinched.

"I suppose I should confess," he began softly. "I knew you were watching us early on. I knew you would take pity, as any outsider would. I knew you would come back for me. My intuition has never led my astray. Not even in my current condition."

"But you owe me your life," she reminded him.

"Indeed. Indeed, I do. If you consider that, in fact, I was acting a little more weakened than I truly am while you were watching…I suppose the debt is a little jaded, no? There's room to improvise."

Luna bit her lip. "You still seem very ill. Your hand's shaking."

He drew away quickly. "I don't want anything from you," she said. "There doesn't need to be a debt, then."

"Wanting is different from needing," he corrected, looking a litte undone. His features held an odd, lost expression, as if the very idea of need was eating him up from the inside.

"Oh, I realize now…I didn't mean to imply you needed me. If you want my help…" she said, tugging the cuff of his robes. "Just pretend, is all. Mother did say that we all have our dreams to get by on..."

"Avoiding reality does me no good," he whispered, his head tilted and listened to the cries coming from village. Almost in the manner of a wolf, she thought. "I've never taken such a coward's avenue."

"You could pretend that you're using me," Luna offered, bluntly. "You know you seem like you could manage on your own," she added, in a luminous tone. "But instead you're taking an opportunity."

"How do you know that I'm pretending?" he asked, his eyes like an eclipse. To be honest, she was afraid. His voice was like nightshade and she was afraid. Daddy might not understand. Even Daddy might not understand why, she thought sadly. She was quite alone.

"Whatever gets you by, Minion," she answered, shivering.

"Tom. You may call me Tom."

"May I have my wand back now, Tom?" she asked, extending her hand. He held out her wand, and when she closed her small fingers around it, he pulled back his arm suddenly. She was drawn much closer to him than she would have wished. Almost like a serpent, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly to him. She inhaled, trying to think of all the things that kept her calm and running through robin eggs, moon dancing, and...

"You know, I could get used to this arrangement," he commented. She realized she could not tell how old how he was. He seemed both very young and very ancient. His motions were like liquid and more than a shade unnatural. A piece of a soul...Ronald had said that, hadn't he?

"You're not human, are you?" she asked.

He laughed. "I look human, don't I? That should be enough for you, Luna. Luna...such an interesting name. You know, most guides in the tales are of the sun. The sun means clarity and order, you see. And here you are, my own piece of moonlight."

She shivered again, like she was suddenly cold.

"I don't mind delusions, Luna," he said. "Not really. Everything is a bit chaotic. Now show me this grave secret, then."

Luna noticed that his fingers were very long and that he talked with his hands, moving them as if plucking notes from the air. Somehow, this did not bother her as much as it intrigued her.

"All right," she said and took his hand once more. Together, they disappeared into the shadows.

When the Aurors came with the morning, they found nothing but abandoned, white masks in the clearing. Anything else was left up to the imagination.

&&&

Thanks for reading.

Since you've all seemed eager about the other T/L drabble, I will certainly continue it. :) I also have plans to a Tale of Three Dark Ladies (yes, three :))


	5. Of Tales and Bells

Disclaimer: All characters you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author notes: A continuation of a Chance Happening…though I guess you can treat them as different stories, if this drabble isn't your cup of tea. :)

&&&

Something happened.

Well, something's always happening, she comforted herself. Luna watched the world semi-collapse around her in a pool of color.

"Um," she began, and the sound came out quite strange. Like it wasn't a sound in the present. She had either already spoken the sound or it was being born within her mind. Time, she thought, time itself was coming undone.

"Relax," he said, perfectly at ease, and she could tell the sound was drifting towards the present. "It's adjusting itself. Haven't you ever read about time-travel?"

"Well." Something dark and half born raced past them, and she shuddered. "Time's linear. Have we stepped onto a different plain? Have we forced time to make a place for us by mixing it up?"

"Time's all in the mind, Luna." He motioned around them. "Time, I believe, keeps those of fragile mind sane. In a broader sense, it's the name of the force that enslaves the weak, the narrow-minded. What _we_ are doing is enslaving that force."

"Should it look like _that_?" Like petals blooming, and falling, and dying, and cocoons bursting open and closing shut. Like moths giving up all their color for the world, and…

"I see now. It's your perception that's coloring your sight, my dear girl. I'm seeing something entirely different."

"What?" she asked, holding on to his arm to regain her balance. Though she wasn't sure if she unbalanced per se. Her feet seemed to be above her head though…she was relatively sure they weren't supposed to be there. In a relative way, of course.

"Let's keep moving. I see the end is near. Pull through it."

All Luna saw was a blob, a shapeless room with no doors, and two stars turn into black holes…

And then she stumbled forward and stretched out her hands to buffer her fall. He caught her easily, having already regained his footing. As if he strolled through time all the- time.

She laughed and then had to stop. She held her head. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yes, my head…yes, I'm fine. That was certainly colorful. I've never seen star burst before. And I think I saw…I saw myself again. Why do I keep running into myself, you know, it's-."

"Don't panic, breathe," he commanded, steadying her. He placed his hand on her forehead. At first she thought the motion strange and intrusive but the coolness of his palm soothed her. "You're coming forward in time. It makes sense that you'd see yourself. So your life flashed before your eyes," he smiled darkly.

"I…did you see yourself? Going backwards?" she muttered.

He paused, looking at her head beads. "They're spelling out different words now." He undid one of the times nimbly with his fingers, and she held still as she could. As dizzy as she was…

"What does it spell out?" she whispered desperately, urgently trying to clear her mind. "The word, what's the word?"

"Ah, it was a mistake of the light," he said hurriedly and pocked the bead. He must despise littering. Luna looked around and saw the lights were dim. Dimmer than usual. It was as if a veil had descended on the flames. She fancied it had the same effect as a Japanese lantern would have over any torch.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, a bit worried.

"Oh…they'll catch up."

She looked at him, wide-eyed. "They're still…in front of us, behind us, or…?"

"Waiting for us, I believe," he explained. "To exist again. It's funny, you know. That they can't go on without my presence…"

The way he said it was strange, as if he were half afraid of the truth of the matter. His tone had a sense of fatalism in it. However, his eyes were alight and more feverish than ever. But still there was a veil over his expression. It was like looking through a tunnel.

She blinked and shook her head. Luna saw the blur near her right. That must have been someone walking at the time of their exchange…

The power, the mere power of their deed, took her breath away. It made her nervous, how interconnected everyone truly was. She had always believed in it, that connection. She just never sought out to see it so clearly.

"Let's move. We have the ideal opportunity to hide you without detection."

They moved and the world moved with them, as if getting a feel from them. She felt something building up, like a pressure.

"Cover your ears!" he commanded suddenly. She did so, and he covered her hands with his, as if he did not trust her.

She found he had good reason for the command. The room, the glass, the world ripped and then a rush and a roar tore through its solemn silence. The sound touched everything, or at least she felt a tap from somewhere inside of her. Things rippled as if a stone had landed in a pond, breaking the illusion of solidarity.

Who had cast the first stone, she did not know. But it passed by them with ease. Then the sound of life began again.

Suddenly she was pushed into a corner and for some reason, he was up against her. She looked up in bewilderment, and he pressed his lips to hers. It was as if…as if time had stopped again. Just this time around, sound and sensation had not paused. It wasn't a gentle kiss, and it was her first kiss, after she had just broken the time barrier. Of course, the barrier accounted to how this felt. She hadn't known him long, and it was the barrier that had caused the sensations that fell across her skin and down somewhere deeply unreachable. That somewhere unreachable was slowly, though….this is nice, she thought, but in every way, nice did not cover it. It was the only word her mind would grant her. The rest of her seemed to have suddenly locked up or unlocked as it were, and-

"Oh, sorry, mate," said the Gryffindor boy who had been a red blur in the hallway just a wink ago. "I didn't see-um, right then…"

He hurried on by, looking somewhat embarrassed. Tom broke the kiss and looked after him, smirking slightly.

"That was close," he said casually.

"I believe it was," Luna mumbled, stumbling a bit on the words. "Very."

Tom stepped away but kept his grip on her arm. "I hope you're not upset. I was just trying to keep you out of sight."

She stared up at him, feeling somewhat small. "Oh. I knew that," she said after awhile. "Out of sight, out of mind…after all."

"Too right. And…" he stopped suddenly.

Luna felt it too. Something was wrong. The place was entirely still once more.

"Tom," she said. "Are you sure that what we did was entirely safe?"

"I never said it was safe," he muttered. "Keep close."

Luna did so, peering around quizzically. "So we actually did create another plain of existence?"

"That's impossible," he argued back. "It would have been documented. I've read up on the subject."

"Did something come with us? Out of that plain?" she continued on, stubbornly.

"There is no plain," he hissed. "Be quiet and let me think."

Luna was about to inform him about his poor manners when something very clearly moved down the hall. It passed out of sight but she had clearly seen it. Except it wasn't very clear at all.

"Um…"

"It is possible that time is still adjusting. How is time really controlled?" he theorized. She realized he had not noticed the movement down the hall. She reached up, standing on her tip-toes, and tapped him on his shoulder.

"Stop _that_. Now, if we were to go outside, we could theoretically break this absence of time. Since the time transition happened inside Hogwarts, and…"

"Tom."

"For the last time, I—."

Then he saw it, the shadow just across the way. It seemed to be studying them quite intently. As if they were curious playthings in a bell-jar.

"Hello there," she called to it. He covered her mouth instantly with his hand.

"Don't. Move." He pushed her behind him and unsheathed his wand. The thing seemed not to like that quite as much and simply vanished. Not by moving away. In that instant. In a shimmer of time.

"You know what I think?" Luna opined after a moment.

"No, and I don't care," he said, staring ahead. He gripped his wand until his knuckles were as white as the wood itself.

"I think that's something that was in the neighborhood of this reality, and—."

"Didn't you look at it?" he asked softly. "It was…I think it was me."

She squinted at him. "No, that was an It. I know what you look like."

"It was," Tom said. To her surprise, she noticed his hands were shaking.

"If it was, it's not the end of the world. I told you about my double."

"In a room. In a room designed for desires. Not in real time! Not in my time!"

"It's all right," she said quickly. "We'll figure it out." She touched his arm. He jerked it away, but she tried again and this time he allowed it.

"Things like this happen to me all the time," she added. "Did my hair bead spell something out? Would it be a clue, possibly?"

"Not to this," he rasped, his voice having abandoned him. He was growing paler by the second, and she was starting to worry.

"If there are two of you in the same time, that's the problem. Maybe that's why time got stuck," she offered.

"So I have to get rid of it," he answered, his eyes darkening.

"Well, not necessarily," Luna pointed out. "I'm sure there is another way. But, Tom, you said it's you, and it didn't look like you at all."

He continued to stare ahead blindly, apparently at a loss. "Let's go after the fellow and ask him who he is."

"It was me and it wasn't," he bit out. "It was me but it was—I had changed somehow. I can't explain it any more than that!"

"Then…" Luna paused when she heard the bell. It was a strange bell, and in her heart, she knew the song.

"What is that noise?" he hissed, his eyes flashing red for a moment. She must have imagined it. She hoped, oh how she hoped she had imagined it. For right now, Tom was her last hope.

"My mother….liked to sing with bells. It was kind of…an old magic. Or so she told me."

"You mean to say that your mother is here as well?"

"She shouldn't be, though. She is quite dead."

He looked ill, as if all his terrors were coming to life. His legs seemed to give way, and he leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.

"Tom," she whispered, feeling the words escape her without meaning. It was as if she was splintering into a thousand cracks. She could not hold back a single thought. "I'm afraid."

She drew nearer to him and grabbed on to his cloak. "Enough of that," he breathed sharply but took her hand. Luna knew it was more for his sake than hers, but she didn't mind it. "I can solve this. Surely."

"Please do," she whispered, shaking.

"The library. Let's go there."

"Shouldn't we just go back to the room?" she asked.

"I…we are by the room. You know that it's gone…right?"

"No, we've walked a little ways."

"No!" he shouted. "I noticed it when I noticed him. The door is gone."

She felt like fading away at his words. Then she remembered that every good story…every good story had a little conflict. There were stories like this, and where did the stories come from? From experience. That could only be a good thing.

She swallowed hard. "All right. The library, then. In this case, though, books may not have the answer."

"Nonsense," he said blindly. Even though he had suggested moving on, he seemed to be stuck. He hadn't moved an inch.

"Let's go, Tom. I don't think I like this very much."

"And I do?"

She didn't answer but crossed her arms, feeling colder by the moment.

"Here." He covered her with the outer layer of his cloak and wrapped his arm around her. She was thankful for the shadows and leaned close. After a pause, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Is this all right?" she asked and hoped that it was. For she didn't know if she could let go.

"…Yes." He walked slowly, letting her keep up.

Luna was certain he believed the answer would be in books, and that was why he moved with such a purpose. She thought differently. She knew differently.

But right now, she needed some hope. Even if it was his hope, it was still hope.

&&&

Well…there is that ;)

Not what I had expected. They will get to a time somehow…eventually. But you know, I thought this would be fun. Feel free to concrit me. Tap me on the shoulder at any time you want, okay :)


	6. Perchance to Dream

Disclaimer: All characters you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author notes: 'ell there . This time around, I wanted to try (try being the key word here…)…Harry/Luna, Tom/Luna, implied (maybe more…) Tom/Harry, and then Tom/Luna/Harry ;). Again, try. Nothing too graphic. And this is just the first part so not all the pairings are taking place quite yet...

And credit city below this, eh ;)

Perchance to Dream…

"This has gone too far."

"Has it now? I can always take it a little farther. There's plenty room to improvise."

Harry leaned his head against the bars, feeling the chill radiate from them.

"They are going to find out. They will see through this, through _you_."

He wanted to hit something. He wanted to feel pain. Just a bit of pain to make sure this was real. He would savor it, feeling the bones in his fingers. But he couldn't. The jacket that bound his arms with straps and magically enforced chains both saved him and tortured him.

"Ah, but Harry…your friends. All your little _friends_ think you're mad. That killing me drove you into the shelter of insanity. I've heard them, you know. They think you're a coward. They never say it. But they think it. From where I'm standing, it's loud and clear. They blame themselves. It makes them feel better…better than you at any rate."

He blinked, bit his lip. He could still bite, he could still hurt. The thing inside of his head laughed.

Ron and Hermione had stopped coming to see him. Was that proof? Was what Riddle said true?

"And you're not a coward. You're hiding in my head, you bastard."

"Language, Harry. Your fear is showing. Not that anything you feel is hidden from me."

"I'm no use to you like this. Behind bars. In a cage. I know you, Riddle. You can't endure this, anymore than I can."

The mediwitch gave him a pitying look as she hurried on by. It burned him like fire.

"Oh, I felt that small spark of hate. But I sense the need for some closure, Harry. Look outside the window."

Harry moved to do so then paused. The bars grinned at him like teeth.

"Afraid of what we'll see, are we…Go on. _Look_."

He looked. Outside was separated about a mere inch thick of bars. He did not see the landscape. He had stopped looking. He looked only for a new nightmare.

"What is it, then?" he asked.

There was a rap on the bars from behind him. He found he hadn't moved at all. Riddle laughed.

"How do you know this isn't all in your head?" he mused. "What if you just couldn't let me go?" Riddle peered at him quizzically, mockingly. "Was that it, Harry? Was it because I made you who you are? That without me, you're a nobody?"

"Who would I be without you?" Harry muttered, his voice thick with weak defiance. "I might have had a life. I might not be dead right now."

"I'm touched by your sentiment." Tom Riddle paced briefly, thoughtfully. His motions held a repressed energy. It was in his softness that could hurt you. "Did ever imagine that I was this powerful? Powerful enough to change the very seams of your reality…By the way, that old reality was quite unpleasant. It got dull, Harry. Terribly dull. You've become dull to me."

Harry flinched without knowing why. "I've heard this all before. You can't change reality. No one can."

"Ah, the woes of the unimaginative. Come now. Of course I can. You _know_ I have."

Harry didn't answer. He did know.

"I can feel your frustration. How can you fight me now? I'm untouchable, in every single way. But you are not, Harry. In fact-"

"Harry," a voice said slowly, tearing the thoughts down like a house of ill placed cards. He was sitting down now, in the floor now.

"Luna." He was ashamed. God, he was so ashamed.

"The mediwitch said it was all right to see you," she said, smiling. "Do you mind if I visit with you?"

"No," he said quickly, greedily. Her visits were like water to him. Fragile, precious, and much too few and far between.

"Is Tom bothering you today?" she inquired, digging out the crosswords from her bag.

"You don't have to patronize me, Luna," he said, squeezing his eyes closed tightly. He had never cried once in his life, and he didn't plan to do it in front of Luna Lovegood.

She tapped on his bars as if he were an inattentive bird. He was about to retort, but then he saw something written in the boxes of the puzzle.

_ I _

_BEE _

_EVIL_

_U _

He stared at the paper. "Those are some answers, Luna."

"Oh, it was tricky at first. What nests in a hive, what rhymed with hive, and did you know that 'live' spelled backwards is 'evil'? That's illuminating, isn't it? So I spelt it backwards."

He blinked. "I Bee Evil U?"

"Work it out," she whispered conspiratorially, looking around to see if the hall was empty.

"I…Be…live backwards, right? Er—I bee live u? I—no, you don't!" he snapped.

Luna tilted her head. "I don't?"

"Well…" he muttered. "I guess you would. But that really doesn't help me."

"I know what you think, Harry. I know what you think of me," she said softly. "But I don't think you're mad. And I think if He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was able to save himself in a diary, how is a person any different?"

Harry swallowed hard and winced as the motion hurt his throat. He moved closer to the bars, hardly daring to trust her.

"I had to answer through the puzzle. That's the game, I think. Though between you and me, the puzzle itself kind of helped me sort out this mess."

His heart sank slightly. What on earth was Luna going on about? "The mediwitches check everything. They said they'll make me leave if they had reason to believe that I was…encouraging you."

"Now what?" he asked. It was almost worse, having hope.

"I've been asking if you can live with me," she said slowly. "I do need Lupin's permission. He's your guardian, so to speak."

"Doing a great job of it, so far," he muttered bitterly.

" Oh, Harry, he would have taken you in himself but they won't allow it because of his condition. And well…they think you're quite dangerous."

"I am," he said. "If he's here—if I'm not crazy and he's within me—I am dangerous, Luna. I can't control him."

"We can try together," she whispered and reached out her hand through the bars to touch his shoulder.

"I can't do anything without him watching," he said, shrugging her hand off. "I'm better off in here, and trust me, you're better off out there."

"Harry, I don't think you understand. The world has been changing…as of late."

"What? How?"

"I have to ask you something first, Harry," she said lightly. "I believe you. Do you believe me? Will you believe me? Because no one else does. Not even Daddy."

She looked at her paper awkwardly, twisting the dog-eared ends to pieces.

"…All right," he whispered, nodding with finality. "I will believe you. I promise. Hey, you've believed me. It's the least I can do."

"No. Believe me because you really believe what I am saying is true. Not because I am a friend."

"I don't know if I can do that. I will try. Will that enough? I'm sorry. That's all I can promise if I plan to keep my word."

She frowned, her eyes curiously bright. "…That will do. Harry, you're not the Boy-Who-Lived anymore."

"…Well, no. I never was. Some life, huh. Kind of a joke of name, looking back on it."

"Neville is," she said and turned the paper around where he could see the picture on the front. He stared. When the picture didn't change, he blinked and tried again.

The title remained in black and white, jeering at him. Neville Longbottom: From the Boy-Who-Lived to be the Man-Who-Saved-Us-All. Under it read the caption: Now that You-Know-Who's gone, what will Neville do now? That's the question on every single girl's mind…

"Er..." he began, any other words lost in his head. Luna stared at him gently.

"Um…they got my name wrong. They also failed to mention that I'm considered clinically insane," he finished, laughing wildly. "That might save me from the dating dilemma."

"Harry, this is very serious."

"No kidding," he said suddenly with a rare, strangled intensity in his voice. "No bloody kidding. But it's not possible. No."

"You're not even trying," Luna said, folding the paper sharply.

"Why try? If Riddle's really behind this nightmare, then how can I do anything about it?"

"It's only happening because it's what people want to see."

"What, they want to see me in a straight-jacket? Oh, now I'm in such a hurry to help them."

"Harry, they just want peace. Even if it's an illusion. We all have our dreams to get us by…"

"So, let me get this straight," he said, smiling at the pun. "We are all in this kind of—collective dream?"

"In a way, yes," she said happily, her eyes widening with her excitement. "There is a spell I've heard of that does exactly that. It's takes one symbol, one collective symbol, and manipulates the consciousness. It plays on that part of you where dreams come from. It takes an immense amount of power, though. He must be powerful, Harry."

"I've noticed…so is this place real? Like, are these bars real?"

"I haven't sorted that bit out yet. It may be the real world, only it's a stage. The world is a stage, and everyone is playing their parts."

"I want to trade," Harry said, laughing again. "Can I have an understudy or something?"

She peered at him. He noticed she had words and poetry in her hair. Hair beads. He had never noticed them before. He didn't dislike them either, his eyes seeming to struggle to read the words for some sanity. Now that she was here, he dared to hope.

"Are you well, Harry?"

"You mean—oh, I see. Barely," he said, feeling ashamed once more. "I'm hanging by a thread. And I think it's going to snap. If this goes on for too much longer, I think I'm really going to go mad. I almost want to. This jacket gets more appealing every second."

She stared at him, and he wished she would look away so he would stop babbling. She didn't. He continued.

"And being this close, I can hardly see the difference anymore. Between him and me. What if this is in my head? And I'm just punishing myself, and I'm beginning to like punishing myself."

"Do you think you could have dreamed this up?" she asked, surprised. "You must have quite an imagination."

"Yeah, I guess. I've thought Hogwarts was all dream before. Oh, wouldn't that just be the topping on this cake? What if I'm still in the cupboard and I'm—."

"Harry, stop," she said sharply, clenching her small hands into fists. He had never heard he use such a tone before, and he winced. "This is what he wants."

"Yeah. But is it what I want too?" he asked softly.

"Oh, Harry," she whispered. He looked away. He leaned his body away, as far away from her as he could go. He withdrew and wished he could disappear.

"You think I don't understand," she said. "I know how tempting dreams can be."

Luna smiled. Her eyes looked old, way beyond her eyes, but her smile held a certain, unwavering innocence.

"That's why there is always some reality in a dream. There's always a way back from a land of pirates and fairies. We tell stories because in some way, they say what we can't. What we don't dare to say…"

"So you think that there is a Tom Riddle out there? That there is a real person behind this sideshow…"

"Yes," she said simply. "And this paper...I think they are still looking for a hero."

"How do you get that from an article about Neville's love life?"

"It's just a feeling. People sense something is wrong. It's on the tip of everyone's tongue. But they are afraid."

"Then why should I care?"

"I care. I don't want you to be alone in here anymore."

Harry's breath caught briefly. He struggled through it. "Riddle's not going to let me go. No way."

"What if it's a challenge?" she asked.

"He doesn't think like that, Luna."

"He wants something from you, Harry," she pressed on. "Otherwise, he could have made them…kill you."

"He's just playing with me," he said bluntly. "Drawing it out..."

"He likes games, then," she pointed out, smiling like a child presented with a new toy. "All right. I would like to play too. I do love games."

Harry was about to make a practical statement—any practical statement—when the mediwitch appeared once more.

"Mr. Potter," she said stiffly. "You are free to go. Miss Lovegood's request has been approved."

"What?" he asked dumbly. He flinched as the bars moved aside.

"I haven't made a request quite yet," Luna said brightly. "This does save me the trouble. Good parchment is so hard to find these days."

"Quite," the mediwitch said dryly, almost with a dark amusement. "Turn around, Harry. You must be uncomfortable."

He didn't move an inch, his chin tilted up in defiance. Luna stepped some distance away from the Healer, her expression very stoic. "Go on, Harry."

He turned slightly, all the while keeping his eyes on the woman. The Healer laughed. The sound was hard and cold and flickering…

"Still a spark of pride left. I hope that when I finally break you, there will be something worth collecting from the pieces," the Healer said. She reached into the pocket of her robes and drew out a blade. Luna gasped.

In a fluid motion—if there truly was any motion—she cut him loose. Like an animal from a trap. From a cage to be hunted.

"That is the idea, Harry. If anything, you always understood instinct. Now, shall there be rules?" he directed the last part towards Luna.

"I usually make them up as I go along," she admitted, clutching at her bad tightly.

"Luna," Harry hissed out of the side of his mouth. "Yeah, there _will_ be rules."

"I suppose no instant death is a good rule," Luna offered.

"Of course. Where's the fun in a mercy killing?" Riddle asked. "Anything else?"

"Leave Luna's father out of this," Harry pressed, crossing his arms. Luna looked at Harry suddenly, her mouth opening slightly in surprise.

"Oh, I see. A new development," Riddle said slyly. "And a new wound. Trying to start a collection, Harry?"

"And the Weasleys," he added swiftly.

"No," Riddle said. "The Weasleys are fair game. They aren't the players. Just the pawns."

It took all Harry's willpower not to throw himself at Riddle's vessel and pummel him into oblivion. If it weren't for the futility of the act, he would in an instant.

"I've been holding back," Riddle admitted, a slight smile plucking at the woman's mouth. "I feel as if I've given you too much peace, Harry. It was an insult to you, I'm afraid. I thought that peace would torment you more than any torture. Peace alone with your madness… But if we are going to play, we should play to the full extent of our abilities."

"I agree," Luna said. Harry nudged her.

"That's kind of one-sided, don't you think? You have a spell that will let you shift reality, after all."

"You've acknowledged my power, then. Doesn't it just kill you?"

"You haven't changed reality, you know," Luna opined. "You've just altered perception."

Riddle looked at her for a moment, seeming caught off guard. "…What an enchanting companion you have, Harry. I'm beginning to look forward to this."

"If Luna and I can break this illusion, we win," Harry said firmly. "Then I'll be coming for you. I got close in reality. There's only one piece of you left, Riddle."

"You really are a very limited person, aren't you," Riddle observed. "What makes you think the reality you know is real? It could be an illusion as well. Why couldn't I have used the same spell twice?"

Harry and Luna stared at him, stunned. Luna opened her mouth to protest.

"Never mind, girl," Riddle said, his voice like silk. "So break it, then, Harry. If you can. And while you are giving it your best efforts, I will be giving mine in return. It's only fair. And I'll be playing with the both of you. Either together…or alone."

"No!" Harry said, clenching his fists. Luna held his arm back with accurate intuition.

"She's the one who issued the challenge as I recall…while you were sulking."

"It's all right, Harry," Luna said. "I thought that would be the case, actually."

Incredibly, Riddle smiled at her knowingly. As if he knew some sort of secret.

"There, you see. I wouldn't want to disappoint," he said and suddenly, the Healer bowed in an elaborate fashion, not bother to hide the dagger of a smile on her face. "Let the games begin."

"Wait!" Harry cried out but all that was left was the Healer. She recoiled swiftly, her eyes darting to Harry's face with fear and contempt. It was a bizarre mixture of expressions. Perfect for the occasion.

"Oh, you're still here, I see," she said, stepping back quickly.

This made Harry's head spin. "Luna, please, get me away from here. Anywhere but here."

Luna took his hand gently and led him down the empty halls. What awaited them outside was another matter. Harry swallowed hard again, feeling like passing out would be a great option. But he was not a coward.

And now, he had someone he needed to protect.

&&&

Okay, Tom's new power…influenced heavily from the Ultimate Loki. In the Ultimate series, in Marvel comics. I happen to think a sexy villain who can shift reality like a deck of cards is quite appealing. That's my position and I'm sticking with it.

Anyway, I hope you guys liked this. Tell me what you think. I want to continue this drabble too, but if it grows beyond my expectations, I might separate it into its own fic. We shall see ;)


	7. A Tale of Three Dark Ladies

Disclaimer: All characters you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author notes: Heh. That's all I have to say. Enjoy the crack.

A Tale of Three Dark Ladies

Hermione took a sip of the tea, tasting it for any trace of poison.

Not that it would kill me, she thought, allowing a smug smile to grace her face.

"So how was your day?" Luna asked politely.

"Oh, wicked," Ginny said, grinning and toying with a knife between her fingers. "I crushed the goblin uprising single-handedly. Nasty buggers. I've gotten every ounce of information from the prisoners…and then some. "

"I'm sure," Hermione said, setting her cup down primly.

"What did you do, then?" Ginny demanded.

"Well, since you've asked…I translated all the manuscripts, brewed an elixir potion, and sorted out that little dispute in New London. I should manage my time better, I know."

"Why don't you make yourself little notes? Little notes always help me, when I can find them. It's like a new surprise every minute, you know," Luna said lightly.

Hermione and Ginny waited, looking at Luna expectantly.

"More tea?" she inquired.

"What did you do today, Luna?"

"Hmm…" Luna said, straightening out the tablecloth. "I did many things today."

They waited.

"And at night," Luna continued.

"That, technically, is a day," Hermione interrupted. "Are we going by a twelve hour day or a twenty-four hour day?"

"Oh, you're keeping count..." Luna said.

"Well, yeah," Ginny said. "Just name something. Anything."

"I got to travel. It was so lovely."

"Where?" Hermione demanded.

"It's not as much a where as a when."

"Then when?"

"I can't quite say."

"Oh for—admit it. You didn't do one thing of use for our Lord."

"If it's only one thing, then no."

They stared. Hermione glared. "Never mind. I don't care to know."

Luna smiled peaceably. Ginny paused for a moment, thoughtfully. "I guess it must be really hard for you two."

Luna and Hermione glanced over quizzically. "I mean, I was the first one. I suppose it must be hard to keep his favor with me around. I'm really sorry."

"Excuse me?" Hermione said bitingly. "You were hardly the first. That would be me, my dear."

Ginny laughed. "Oh no. I knew him first. Soul and body, body and soul."

"Point taken. He was just using you for your body."

She gritted her teeth, and Hermione continued on. "I'm not sure about the soul part."

"That's exactly what happened," Ginny protested.

"Then how do you explain what he told me? That I was his _mind_, practically a second him. Hmmm?"

Luna paused for a moment. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"What?" Hermione asked, bewildered.

"You must have been," Luna reasoned. "It's a bit of a misunderstanding, really."

"Oh, be clear for once," Ginny said.

"I see how you're all getting befuddled. He said I was his mind, body, and soul, if I recall correctly. So you two must have overheard and misunderstood the subject of his claim."

"The hell we did," Ginny said angrily. "You _recall_ wrong. You must have been daydreaming."

"You recall _incorrectly_," Hermione reprimanded, shaking her head.

"Or we were all in the same bed that time," Luna mused.

"I would have remembered that," Hermione said quickly. Ginny didn't look as certain.

"Well, it doesn't matter," she growled, as fiercely as a lion would. "We all know the truth. It must be so hard for you to say it. I pity you. I do. On the inside."

Hermione frowned, her eyes flashing. "Now, wait just a minute, Weasley. That's a load of rubbish. I'm clearly the most useful out of the three of us. The both of you—working together—could not match me in the Dark Lord's favor."

"Well, no one bloody knows what it is that Luna does around here!" Ginny retorted, hitting her fist against the table. The silverware clattered. Luna looked out the window dreamily.

"Then my superiority is that much more apparent," Hermione said softly, shrugging.

"_What?_" Ginny asked, just as softly. She pushed back her chair. "Did you just say that you—the bushy-headed know-it-all— are better than me?"

"Luna, was I in any way unclear?"

The wide-eyed girl shook her head. "You were very clear in your meaning."

"Thank you. And I'm glad you have the good sense to agree."

"Really? Is that what I did?" Luna smiled a shade darkly. "It's funny how the human mind works. Perception is in the reception…and the conception of the end result. If that's what you want to see, then do go ahead. It's all the better…"

Hermione froze. "W-."

"She said that you have a bloody big head that's going to trip you up," Ginny snapped. "Let's take this outside and settle it once and for all."

"You must be joking."

"I'm dead serious," Ginny said sinisterly. "Speaking of which…"

Hermione flushed. "All right. I'm going to have to explain your _condition_ to him later. But I'm sure he'd understand completely, after having to deal with you all this time…"

Hermione stood up as well, unsheathing her wand. Ginny smiled and licked her lips.

Luna peered up at the two with interest. "May I watch?"

"…Wait a moment," Hermione said. She looked at Ginny. "Don't you think this is a little too convenient for our Luna?"

"…Yeah. If both of us are out of the way, then little Miss Innocent will…."

Luna blinked. "I sense a lack of trust."

Ginny pointed her wand at Luna. "Let me handle Pop-eye here. Then we duel."

"Go ahead," Hermione said, crossing her arms and smiling to herself.

Luna sighed. "My tea parties always end so abruptly."

With that, the tea pot she was holding erupted into what seemed to be a well-conceived magical well of power. "But it would be rude not to let the guests have the last drop."

She threw it into the air. Hermione and Ginny dodged. Hermione shrieked as a few drops burned through her clothing.

"Why you!" Ginny screamed, sending curse after curse in Luna's direction. Except Luna seemed to be standing everywhere.

"She's poisoned the tea!" Hermione yelled, scandalized.

"Oh, not poison. How crude. Just a little something to help you see a new side of old things."

"I am going to kill you," Ginny announced.

"You may certainly try."

"Ginny, follow her voice. Her voice!" Hermione yelled. "Close your eyes. Use your other senses."

For the first time in awhile, Ginny took Hermione's advice. She closed her eyes and listened for Luna rather than try to see her.

"Hah!" Ginny yelled and fired a Killing Curse at the sound of someone creeping across the floor.

"Crookshanks!"

"Bugger," Ginny whispered. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She resisted the urge to hex. Her brothers had played that trick a million times.

"To hell with this," she declared. "Hermione, get down."

She summoned a very powerful curse that would strike everything within a ten mile radius. She minimized it then hexed away. It was her specialty, after all.

She heard several people screaming. Oh well. She certainly hadn't started this but she would finish it.

Ginny cracked open an eye. Both of her competitors were lying unconscious nearby.

"Well. Looks like I win," Ginny said brightly.

"Think again," Hermione said. She was safely encased in the mirror on the wall, with Crookshanks purring in her arms.

"Then…who? What? Two of…"

"I had to split myself in two to survive your attack," Luna replied calmly. "I don't like doubling up, you know."

"I rather like it," the second Luna who looked like Hermione replied. "It is forty-forty vision, after all."

"But if hindsight is twenty-twenty, what is forty-forty, then?"

"Hind is the rind of the mind, and…"

"Argh!" Ginny screamed in frustration. "Enough. Let's just go ask him who his favorite is."

"That is actually quite reasonable," Hermione said.

"I agree," the two Lunas said in unison.

"Oh, pull yourself together, Luna," Hermione commanded as she stepped out of the mirror, Crookshands at her heels with his tail held high.

"I thought I-um-killed him—accidentally, of course," Ginny said nervously.

"You did. One of him," Hermione said.

"You made a Horcrux for your cat!" Ginny exclaimed. "I thought animals couldn't have…"

Hermione looked suspicious.

"Never mind," Ginny said. "See you losers later."

With that, Ginny ran out the door and down the dark hallway to the Dark Lord's chambers.

"Don't run in the halls!" Hermione shouted after her disappearing figure. She paused. "Coming, Luna?"

"Eventually."

Hermione shrugged and walked at a leisurely pace down the hall, following Ginny. She of course knew the answer the Dark Lord would give. She held her head up high and pressed her robes down neatly by her sides.

"You look nice," Luna said, leaning quietly against the main doors. Hermione glared.

"How did you get here so fast?" Luna looked vague.

"I bet Ginny's already in there," she said. "I don't want to look like I'm worried."

"Actually, Ginny's right there."

Hermione turned to see Ginny grinning at her from the window seat. "Worried, huh?"

"So you actually waited for once…" Hermione observed dryly. "All right. Shall we go in?"

They opened the doors with an impatient Ginny trying to push her way in first. Then they stopped short in surprise. They had never entered the Dark Lord's room unannounced before…and they quickly saw why…

Luna was the first to speak.

"Why…hello, Harry. I thought you were dead."

&&&

-Yeah….

Someday I may write something very serious about a…what would that be, T/G, T/Hr. and T/L…and T/H? I'm not quite sure. It is technically possible of course, with all those Horcruxes around…. But this was not serious, by the way ;)

And Luna's "I sense a lack of trust" is by Harley Quinn, from the Batman Animated Series. Yay.


	8. Dine and Dash

Disclaimer: All characters you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author notes: Another sort of humor thingy: will return to more Tom/Luna drabbles ;)

Dine and Dash

When people described her, Luna noticed that they always used the three D's.

Dreamy is one. Dotty is another. And Detached is the last of the triplets. So Luna decided to start thinking purely in the third dimension from now on. Yet how did one go about thinking in 3D?

Professor Flitwick suggested that she merely use her imagination. Well, Luna thought, I already use an awful lot of that. Professor Vector pointed out that technically she was already living in 3D. For she wasn't as flat as a piece of parchment, he explained. Luna thought that was a bit boring, truth be told. Professor McGonagall suggested that she set her mind to more practical matters. Luna wondered how her inquiry wasn't perfectly practical and shared her point of view with the Transfiguration Professor. It hadn't been well met.

Professor Trelawney had another suggestion all together.

"My dear girl," the woman said wisely. "The trick to living in 3D is to open your third eye."

"You mean like having an eye in my forehead?" Luna considered the possibility. Then she peered at Trelawney's head wrap curiously.

"No," Trelawney said, pursing her lips. "I meant the celebrated art of gazing into the future."

"Is there any other way?" Luna asked, remembering her incident with the tea leaves.

"I suppose. It's a technique for the less gifted," she replied, giving Luna a narrow look. "Astral Projection."

"Could you teach me?" Luna chirped. The woman looked a bit embarrassed and quickly declined. Luna supposed it must be something one had to learn on their own.

Astral Projection was quite tricky, Luna discovered. The books she had borrowed from the library all cited different methods of how to go about it. The more she read, the more she began to lose hope.

"What will I do, mother?" she had finally asked the portrait on the window sill. "I did so want to project myself."

"Remember—if you set your mind to it, you can do anything, dear heart," the portrait had responded, smiling gently.

Luna resolved to do just that. Put her mind to it. Or out of it. But she needed a certain place where she could really let her mind wander.

During History of Magic class would be perfect.

Sitting near the back of the room, Luna listened as Binns droned on and on. It's working, she thought sleepily. I'm being bored into submission.

Now for the great escape.

The next thing she knew she was floating far above her body. It was as if she were a great balloon. She took to spinning around the room in great swirls. If she moved her hand quickly enough, she could spell out her name in mid-air. To her surprise, Binns suddenly looked up.

"Lupin, get back in your body this instant!" he croaked, straightening his spectacles in agitation. For once, Binns had everyone's attention. The class muttered and mumbled, and seemed to be in a general state of chaos from their professor's odd command.

She shook her head, shivering at the thought of a continued lecture of doldrums, and promptly jumped out the window. She had no intention of ending her experiment just yet.

"So you're all so disinterested in history that you're now dying in the middle of my lectures, eh," Binns said, throwing his ancient textbook to the floor. "And I skipped the afterlife for _this_. Well, I've had it." He floated out of the room in a stew and rethought his priorities.

Meanwhile, Luna Lovegood was having a high time of it. Quite literally. She skipped across the clouds, leaping from the one that looked like a great big fish to another that resembled a mongoose. However, she did wish to go somewhere. She could only have her head in the clouds for so long, you know.

And somewhere near rather than far since this was her first trip out of her body.

She decided to let fate decide. She dove off the edge of the whiskerneil cloud and descended to the earth once more. She marveled at how the earth looked so brilliant when she technically wasn't using her eyes to see it.

She really didn't mind when she went through a roof of a rather old manor. It was quaint to descend through the layers of plaster and old pipes. The rug tasted horrible though. Really, really fishy. Nevertheless, it tickled going through metal and she laughed lightly.

Who would be in this old house, she wondered brightly. She stopped herself from dropping into the cellar just in time. It seemed like there were different levels of being real. But she was a bit tired already.

Yawning, she wandered down the hallways, stopping to look at a portrait or two along the way. For some reason, the portraits snubbed her, refusing to response to her greetings. She turned a few of them backwards in reprisal and put one in the rubbish bin near the kitchens.

Already, Luna mused, the company in this household is rather poor. Then she heard voices coming from what must have been the dining room of the house. She brightened and quickly floated through the door.

"How many did you torture today, my lad?"

Luna skidded to a non-existent stop and stared. She recognized Lestrange from the Department of Mysteries incident. The Malfoy boy she knew from school. She didn't know the man on the other side of Lestrange. Nor the one who had the oversized axe on the table. She tsked at the clear lack of manners. One should never leave a bloody axe on the dinner table.

"Would you mind putting that thing away, Mulciber?" the man near Lestrange inquired, apparently echoing Luna's sentiments.

"Light weight," Mulciber responded but placed the weapon under the table.

"You had best not soil our Lord's tablecloth," Lestrange said, glaring and spearing a piece of meat viciously with her fork.

"I'll just blame him," he said, pointing at Draco who paled. "Now about the torture. How did it go?"

Lestrange spoke again. "It was…fair. He's making progress. As the blood of my blood should…"

Mulciber looked amused. "You were sick again, weren't you," he said, sneering at Draco.

"No," Draco said, looking uneasy. As disgusting as the dinner conversation was, Luna noticed the food on the table looked delicious. She realized that having an out-of-body experience made one rather hungry. She crept closer.

"Do not answer such an insulting question," Lestrange told her nephew imperiously.

"It's not like it's a secret," Mulciber argued. "Everyone knows about it."

"Mere rumors," Lestrange responded, looking combative. "Unfounded rumors. Our Lord is pleased with Draco's progress." Luna reached carefully towards a goblet.

"Or he is as amused by it as I am."

"How dare you!"

The mystery man started to move his plate and goblet out of the way, clearly planning ahead. She brushed the man's shoulder, reaching for a piece of bread. Her mission was a success, and she smiled, nibbling at the piece happily. It fell on the floor. She frowned.

"What?" the man asked, peering around.

"…What?" Lestrange barked back.

"You just touched me."

Mulciber started to laugh. "I most certainly would not lower myself to touch the likes of you," Lestrange retorted.

"But you did, you just tapped me on the shoulder."

"No, I did not touch you, Travers."

"Well, someone tapped me," he protested, looking around wildly.

"Blame your hallucinations on the boy," Mulciber answered in a casual tone. "That's what we all do, you know."

"…And who exactly blamed my nephew for something recently?" Lestrange inquired dangerously. Mulciber grew thoughtful.

"I blamed him for that decapitation mishap. I know Nott blamed him for the shoes that were left on the stairs. You know, the pair our Lord tripped over."

"That was Nott?"

"Wormtail accidentally swept Nagini into the rubbish bin while he was doing the house work. He blamed it on Draco." Lestrange turned beet red.

"Then there was that badly cooked chicken incident…then the time I switched Amycus's wand with a joke wand…and then there was-"

"Enough!" Lestrange bellowed, slamming her hands on the table. "I will listen to no more! My nephew is the pride of the Dark Lord."

There was a moment of silence while everyone thought about this declaration.

"It would very sad if that were true," Travers piped up. "I would have to become a turncoat. But everyone knows the truth anyway."

"No. They. Do. NOT."

Luna took this opportunity to reflect.

"Even I know about it," she said thoughtfully. "Really, Draco's nice underneath it all, I'm sure. He's just full of hot air. However, I would have thought he'd be bit better on a broom considering all the air, you know. I'm ever so glad his big feet compensate for it."

"L-Lovegood?" Draco sputtered. Luna raised an eyebrow. Apparently eating made you as real as you could get in this state.

"Well, the day just got a little more interesting," Mulciber observed, drawing his wand.

"I hate to dine and dash," Luna said. "But I just remembered I had a previous engagement that is rather pressing."

Lestrange let out a bloodthirsty howl and leapt to her feet. Luna threw the unfinished bread at her and fled. Really, the woman must have been starving to scream like that.

She reached the kitchen and found a brooding Snape staring down a sink full of dirty dishes. Which meant he was quite all right, in other words.

"Hello, Professor," she called as she fluttered past him.

"No running in the halls! That's five points from Gryffindor!" he yelled back, flinging down his dish rag.

She zoomed up the stairs, listening to the stampede of feet that were in her wake.

It's very hard to be unconcerned and worry-free when people are throwing dark spine-ripping curses at you, Luna noticed. She tried to float a little faster by padding her arms as if she were a boat. In fact, she felt rather like a tug boat in the face of a rapidly approaching hurricane.

She turned the corner and to her embarrassment, sailed right through a person. How terribly rude of me, she thought sadly.

"Oh, dear me," she began her apology then stopped. Oh. My.

He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. She had just floated through You-Know-Who.

Usually, she supposed he would be more horrifying, but it's always a surprise for a girl to burst out of your middle. It would rattle anyone's nerves, she supposed.

They stared at each other for a moment. "Well…" Luna said. "Um, terribly sorry about that."

His scarlet eyes narrowed. "You're rather pale," she pointed out. "And you have no nose, did you know?"

"Are you alive?"

"Yes," Luna answered.

"Good," he hissed and raised his wand. Then all her pursuers caught up with her—or them. There was a bit of a collision. It was quite messy, but Luna didn't stay around to inquire after anyone's health. She floated calmly through the roof and happened to overhear a little more of the discord in the house.

"Who is responsible for this debacle!" the cold voice shouted.

"…Draco, your father would be ashamed!"

Needless to say, when she returned to her body, Luna decided to put the astral projection experiment on hold for the time being.

For now she had several things on her agenda. To get into a warm bed. To write her father about the brilliant new story she had for the Quibbler.

And to send some eye-drops to You-Know-Who post haste.

--

And next time, Tom/Luna, either a continuation or something completely different. I am looking for a serious LV/LL one shortly, though.


	9. A very furry problem

Disclaimer: All characters…

Now this really is a drabble. ;) Luna/Lupin

A Very Furry Problem

"Go away."

"I can't do that, you know," Luna sighed, moving at ease within the spaces. She was close. Close to winning, and the thrill of the game was electric.

"This is not a game," Lupin protested, as if reading her mind. "I can feel the transformation happening as we speak." He was curled in the corner of the dungeon, empty and hollow.

"I'm going to be in your cell within moments. I do wish I had starved some more. I would be beside you right now, if I had been."

"I can't help myself," he warned, his voice becoming unspeakable in its despair. "I won't be able to help myself."

"Professor," she reasoned, wiggling some more into the space she had created, after moving stone after stone personally within the month…when he had told her of his affliction. "You said you can't remember the last time you were alone when you had a transformation. You shouldn't be alone now."

"You'll be a monster, and I won't wish this on my worst enemy. And with you, I won't be able to bear it."

They thought of each other kindly now, more than a student and professor. In between the cell walls, they had exchanged whispered treasures, and she had become his sole means of sanity. And after that, his sole means of...of perhaps love. He had grown so wary of it, that he could not remember it. But he was sure...this was love, and it felt dangerous, like an itch under his skin. It scared him, a nd he realized that he might love her too much.

She was inside the cell now, and he was curled up, shaking and weeping.

"Haven't you heard?" she asked. "Monsters are just fears and fairytales. You're a good man, Professor. In this world, you are a good man."

His yellow eyes loomed through the shadows, and she sat near him. "I believe you can control it. And if you bite me, I will not hold it against you. I may taste good."

For she had never tasted herself, now that she thought about it.

He laughed weakly.

When he transformed, he expected the lock in his mind to snap shut. Instead, he was himself within. He looked out of wolf's eyes in amazement.

"You see," Luna said, her fingers running through his fur. "Now, I wonder what the Death Eaters will think of your form."

He smiled. By morning, they both walked free, and decided to stop by a shop for a well-deserved cup of coffee before contacting the Order.


	10. Till Death do we part

Disclaimer: All characters…

This is a Gaiman crossover. Tom captures Death. ;) First part of a small series of drabbles on the subject.

&&&

Luna recognized the woman instantly.

It had been years but Luna had a fond memory of her.

When she came to take her mother, she had allowed Luna to accompany them to the world's end. She had even had a cup of tea with Luna before she went to collect the others—the countless others.

Now, Death was bound in a chair, cords of silver and apple branches wrapped around her. Her head hung to the side in a trance, in a never-ever sleep.

"Did she think I would allow it? Did she think I would accept it?"

"Tom, I can't see you in the shadows," she began, softly, searching the nooks of the room for her husband. It appeared as if the room had been torn to pieces by St. Elmo's fire or a batch of Brazilian Gadzooks.

"I told you death was primarily about acceptance, that we give her power. And look at her now."

Luna followed his voice, searching the emptiness with her hands like a blind woman, and found him at last. She touched his arm, and felt the warmth of his skin. Despite her good feelings towards Death, she felt relief wash over her like a flood.

"I thought—I thought you had taken…precautions against…her embrace. Why did she come for you?"

He was silent for a moment, and she drifted closer, wrapping her arms around him.

"I poisoned myself. I know the exact formula that would allow me to take a step into her realm." he admitted. "To lure her here within my grasp."

"This wasn't necessary," Luna told him, sharply, and glanced pityingly at the broken figure in the center of the circle. "You've brought her here to be your trophy, not to protect your life."

"Oh, it wasn't for my life. I am immune from her touch. That is why she is in her present position."

His face was battered, bruised. Within the circle in the center of the room, the circle drawn in ash and blood, it was clear there had been a struggle.

She stood in awe of his ambition and in horror of the implications. "All this, for a trophy."

"More like a ward against our separation." Luna froze, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Till Death do we apart, after all," he whispered into her ear. He kissed her deeply, and it took no thought to kiss him back.

Death looked on with despair and sagged against her bonds.

&&&

Author notes: Yep, I think Death's relatives are going to be upset. ;) And what will Luna do, I wonder?


	11. Till Death do we part 2

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling (Tom and Luna) and Neil Gaiman (Death and her family).

Author notes: This is part of several parts. Luna tries to warn her husband.

Till Death do we part

(continued. Part 2)

She decided to find small ways to express her displeasure.

There was never any need to fight, really. Violence never solved anything. She recalled when one fight over the location of her garden did become a little physical in the way of magic. He cursed and then, when he had conjured the biggest curse he could think of, she ducked.

Sadly, the whole left wing of their home was blown to pieces. It was fine, really, because apparently the whole countryside was littered with her dresses. Now, everyone could have a dress to go to their parties. Yet it was never an experience she would want to revisit.

And the one time she tried the 'silent' treatment, he had kept asking her questions. So she could never remain silent for very long, though she tried writing instead of speaking. But for some reason, possibly as a result of being silent, her handwriting would prove unreadable.

After they had left Death behind, alone in her bonds, Luna was determined not to let this slide or allow him to win. She had learnt from her earlier failures. It was time to voice her opinion.

"Tom, the crosswords came today," Luna reminded him. She looked out the windows. Some of their conquered land was a motley assortment. Some from dimensions they had broken, some from ancient lands that could not longer stay hidden, and some completely hand made…she supposed it was all very impressive. He had gotten a little addicted to the Atlantis scrolls, and Luna remembered a whole month of speaking in just Atlantian, to help him with his accent.

"There are epics written about what I've done, and you're excited about crosswords?" he asked. His back was turned to her and she couldn't read his expression or the weather of his mood.

"Who is writing your poem?" Luna inquired, suddenly curious.

"I prefer prose," he said over his shoulder in a haughty voice, quickening his strides.

"Poetry is easier to remember," she pointed out. "And poetry sounds better as a song!"

"No matter. I'd sooner get praise from the dead sea scrolls than from you."

Ah. His mood was black. "I'm an outsider on this particular venture. So I'm not the most reliable source for gratuitous compliments. That's usually your mirror's function, isn't it?"

His pace stopped. And he turned. Luna was still very short compared to his height, and she noticed that difference most when Tom decided to loom.

"If the mirror is broken, I can mend it," she offered.

"Look at me, Luna." Tom was like an ocean, Luna decided. You never knew what was lurking underneath his words.

Luna had chosen the rather charming place under his chin to stare down, a place free of eyes that could lock and unlock doors in her mind. "I am looking at you."

"Meet my eyes and then dare to speak to me in that same tone."

She thought that was a bad idea. "It was just an offer. I'm only trying to help. When you allow it."

He placed one of his long fingers under her chin and forced her head up. She closed her eyes.

"Capturing Death is one of those things most husbands would discuss with their wives," Luna said, feeling the calm before the storm. "You made nary a peep."

"What, I can't _surprise _you any more?"

"Well, I am surprised," Luna admitted, peeking up at him. That was a mistake. He had her, capture, and at any moment, a door in her mind could spring open.

"Yes? And do you like your surprise?"

"It is one of a kind."

"Do you like what I have done for you? What I have given to you at my own risk without any thought of repayment?"

Oh dear, Luna thought, and he caught her inner jargon like it was fish in a net. "Ah. So I have displeased you." He brushed one stray piece of hair over her ear, looking deceivingly placid.

"Have you…planned ahead, Tom?" Luna decided to ask. "You know Death is not finicky."

"You must think me a simpleton! Of course I have!" he growled, losing all facades of calm.

"Really? What about those who are suffering while we have been talking? Those who are waiting to pass on?"

"So."

She raised her eyebrows. "Death isn't finicky. I fancy it's a full time commitment."

"I've saved those poor souls quite a bit of pain. Death is not fate. It is a choice. If everyone were aware—if everyone knew as we know—that thief, that wretch, would not have so much control. But I am merciful. If their minds lend themselves too much to pain and they lose their usefulness, I will gladly let them depart."

"You…took her powers while you were there," Luna observed. He nodded, smiling. "Oh, Tom."

"Rather I took the key to her powers," he said, holding up a strange looking necklace she had seen before. "Think of it. Without us, it would be a meaningless symbol. Without lives to steal, there would be no Death."

"But you are planning on stealing lives…well, more than you usually do."

"I must. There are seasons to tend to and eras to end. And the weak to purge."

All right, Luna thought. This has gone far enough. Honestly, she looks away for one minute…

"You're right," she said, appraisingly. "Without life, Death would cease to exist."

Tom drew her closer, and she felt comfortable enough to continue. Though she knew what he was doing. Bringing her closer to disrupt her thoughts. "And really, we have always accepted Death at face value."

He rubbed a circle into her back with his hand, and she felt his warmth through her robes, and it was getting immensely difficult to disagree. Luna had to hurry.

"Though I wonder: what will the Others say?"

Tom paused and pushed her away to look at her directly, and she sighed sadly at the loss of his touch. It was a bitter victory. "Others? Oh, I see. You are trying to frighten me with more of your children's tales."

He laughed. "There isn't just Death. Death isn't even the oldest of the Others."

"And you know this how?"

"She told me so. She was very open about her family. They don't always get along but they do manage to pull together in a crisis. And this may count as a crisis, you know."

Tom stood still, the ankh held awkwardly in his hand. He actually resembled one of his statues he had added to her garden. Wide-eyed and somehow very childlike in his shock.

"Others?" he repeated.

"They are often called the Endless." Their proper title seemed to make him angry.

"Hah. _The Endless, is it? _We will see about that." His eyes flashed scarlet, and he loomed even more, and Luna felt very bad tidings indeed. "So, these Endless…tell me more about them."

"I only know two others besides Death," she replied softly.

"Let me guess," he said, taking on his former tone. "Life, right?"

"I don't know about that, but I do know Delirium. She's very nice."

He blinked. "What kind of being is that? You're losing your touch, my muse."

"I'm very serious!" Luna exclaimed, crossing her arms.

"Of course you are. And after her? Dullards, perhaps. Dottiness, perhaps? Maybe Lunacy, is she among your acquaintances?"

"You can make fun now," she declared, turning away in a flutter. "But you'll see."

She couldn't retreat entirely for he seized her around her waist. "Don't be so thin-skinned. Your only acquaintance now is Envy because _I_ accomplished this alone."

"I don't mind," she said against his shoulder. "I'm used to not being included, you know."

"Oh no," he said, chuckling. "Well, you are the reason for this venture. You were my _inspiration_."

"What did I do to inspire _this?_" Luna demanded, secretly deciding never to do whatever she had done ever again. Never ever.

"Remember some weeks ago…when you refused the elixir for the fiftieth time."

Luna thought. Oh for Circe's sake. "When I coughed?"

"Well, it was more than that," he said defensively. Luna noted that they were strolling now, under the inner sanctum's grove. Tom had his left hand laced in her right, and the ankh clenched tightly in his right fist. She knew that the only reason that they were strolling was because Tom believed that he had gotten his way. She would have to prove him wrong.

Luna sighed and looked at the oghams above them. She also noticed his thumb stroking her highly sensitive hand, and the light tingling and that tight feeling that grew steadier across her body especially—she cursed mentally and glared at him.

"It was a cough. I was in the dungeons that week. It shouldn't be so difficult to keep them tidy for our guests."

"That would ruin the whole purpose of having a dungeon, Luna. Dungeons are not supposed to be tidy. They are supposed to be filled with promises of pain and endless, forced existence. Stop trying to clean them. And if I find any more of those flower necklaces down there, I will be very displeased, do you understand?"

"I should be allowed to cough," she continued in determination. "You've coughed before. I've even seen you. You couldn't blame it on a ghost then, you know."

"Yes, on occasion I cough, but I can't die."

"Actually, you would have a terrible, hacking cough the rest of your eternal life."

"Your point?"

"I would have to listen to it until I die," Luna said sadly.

"That's not very nurturing," Tom observed.

"You never take any of my elixirs, really."

"And you never listen to any of my suggestions. And now you will be with me for a very long time, hacking cough or not."

"I wouldn't leave you willingly, you know. You think I'm trying to get away from you through death. That's not true."

Tom stared straight ahead at her remark and he clutched the ankh even tighter.

"It's just the way of things. I don't know why you think you would enjoy me more later on rather than now."

"Enough. This is the last time we will speak of this. I have made my decision. And there is no going back."

"I know," she said, concerned. "I know all too well I'm going to make you a Dreamless Sleep draught tonight."

"Why, to set the wrench free while I sleep?"

"We aren't supposed to be talking about you know what," Luna reminded him primly. He had reached his realm, the one of endless research behind a closed door. Sometimes she was allowed in. Sometimes she was not allowed and Luna could tell this was one of those times.

"I advise against any plans stirring up in your head. I will _know_. And keep out of the dungeons. We have company, remember."

"You're going to have to trust me a little. Just a little."

She looked up at him gently, and she meant it. Despite everything, she wouldn't betray him. Despite that Tom thought she would.

He stroked her cheek with his unburdened hand, being both merciless and gentle. She leaned into his touch, feeling heartened.

"Go into your garden and we will do crosswords together later, I promise."

She smiled a bit sadly as he went down into the darkness of the forbidden corners of the castle. Where he kept all his secrets and countless trophies. Where he still remained the Dark Lord.

Sometimes she wondered why he chose her out of all of them. That…now _that_, in her opinion, had been the biggest surprise. Even his capture of poor, heedless Death couldn't top it.

With dread, she turned to her realm. The walls and pictures and air and the trees, oh the trees, seemed to sag in Despair, and Luna shuddered. She tried his door again, pulling on it fiercely so she could find some way to protect him. To her own despair, she found that he had sealed it from within.

She could summon him but she thought he would be too irate to listen or just think her silly. So Luna hummed a song about hope, to drive Despair away, and went about her business of making a dream catcher out of some spare bit of ribbons. She had a feeling that the very Furies themselves would be at their guests tonight.

&&&

And Luna's quite right to be worried. Death's family is not too far behind. :-) And a credit: Death isn't finicky goes to Crossgen comics. I've heard it in several of their issues.


	12. Till Death do we part 3

Disclaimer: Oh, I really don't own. Belongs to Rowling and Gaiman.

&&&

Luna crossed her arms in irritation.

Tom had taken an awfully long time today, and in the meantime, she had stayed in the arboretum, waiting and thinking through her argument. She glanced down sadly at her dream-catchers and then felt a shudder run through her. She grew tense and looked around, her eyes alert.

Perhaps it was that the smell of old leather had overcome the pleasant winter smell of the fire, and Luna was not one for sweat and suede. But at the heart of her ills was her arboretum of birch trees.

It was the pure and simple fact that it was not spring time quite yet, Luna though as she watched a metal spring sprung from the branches of her trees. She knelt down to gather at the base of one tree to gather the lot of them, and found that screws were falling like acorns all around her. Luna quickly covered her head to avoid injury.

"Heelo," a small, lopsided voice said meekly from the corner of the dome. Luna peered up only to see odd little butterflies fluttering in boots. Yes, the boots—an old pair of army boots it seemed—was trampling all her rare, fair flowers, and the butterflies in the boots were doing the trampling.

"Fello," Luna replied politely, and watched the boots fall to the side. The butterflies then took form, and in their place was a young-looking girl. She was dressed in a motley fashion, and Luna could see that she was quite tiny in such a large overcoat. Her eyes were more arresting—the irises swam like fish. Her hair was in braids of wire and coat-hangers and jam.

"But not ham?" the girl inquired, swaying slightly. Luna quickly turned to Occulumency and stared her down.

"I thought about bringing a few lemurs, along the way, for when you did that," Delirium said, holding a hand to her cheek in wonder. "Oh, dear."

And in fact, there was a herd of deer trying to eat the springs that had been sprung from- Luna shook her head.

"I like trees! They are for zzees, and I adore zippers, though they come with nippers, and that's no good!" With that, the Endless one began to dance around her grove, in dizzying motions, and it appeared to Luna that the world was suddenly unsteady.

And oh dear, the deer had zippers, all in their brown coats. And if they unzipped, Luna was sure she would be quite ill.

"Please," Luna cried. "Don't be cruel to the animals."

"Oh, I have a doggie," the girl proclaimed, bouncing from trunk to trunk in the grove. "Have you seen him? I lost him, or he lost me, and you see."

"Seeing-eye dog?" Luna inquired, and Delirium paused to think.

"Can I see my eye?" And it seemed for a moment, the Endless one was about to try it.

"I will help you find your dog," Luna offered quickly. Delirium beamed, and the smell of old leather intensified ten fold.

"But I'd see him again, you know, in the other time, breaks all the time, time does."

"Tempus Frangit," Luna said knowingly, and the bouncing springs on the ground grew still. "Why are you here, Delirium? We used to be good friends, as I recall."

"Yes, I think I remember a moon child. The moon march hare told me—me once, that you were at his tea party, with your mother and my sister."

Luna remembered this fondly, and smiled. "The biscuits were quite stale, though."

"I want my sister back!" Delirium suddenly screamed out, her eyes unusually focused.

"I know you must. I will talk to Tom. He'll see reason soon."

"Reason will have nothing to do with the likes of him," Delirium countered.

"That's my husband you're talking about and I'm rather fond of him," Luna said, her smile fading as if it had been held up by strings only to be cut. "I will find a way to free her myself. Then will you be happy?"

"Oh, noes," Delirium said, tilting her head. "Noes, noes. I thought you were his prisoner, birdie bye. If you are married, where's your ring?"

Luna held up the bonded seal around her hand proudly. "You see, we are married."

"Was a mocking bird there?"

"I don't think so. We had a very limited guest list."

"Oh, then it's true. I'm very sorry."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Don't be. As I said, I'm actually very fond of him."

"Not for long. You see, Dream is angry. Desire is angry. And Despair, oh, she is mad. I was angry, I'm not sure now…but we thought hard and short about what to do with him. He's gotten away with plenty, and this was the opposite to the first straw."

"You mean…they won't forgive and forget? Death is unharmed, I promise."

Delirium licked her lips slightly. "But he's done the unforgivable. And he hasn't forgiven any of his enemies as of ever. It's fair, so there."

"Who's coming for him?" Luna pressed on.

"Why, everyone. All his old enemies are coming on the run. Dream thought that since he disliked Death so much, he wouldn't mind being haunted."

"As long as it's not Them," she thought out-loud. "I think I can help as long as it's not Them."

"Oh, the Three want him last. They want him quite badly." Delirium smiled. "I would take him, you know, into my realm to make the pain better but I don't like him much."

"Then make like a tree and leave," Luna said sharply, drawing out her wand. Delirium laughed in delight, and faded from sight.

&&&

Needless to say, Luna was now quite upset and took it upon herself to check the ghost wards.

The Ministry used to be the one to make wards for ghosts, limiting them to one haunting zone per spook. But they did not consider the Dark Lord as worthy of any wards, and Luna could see their reasoning. So Tom had developed his own wards.

It didn't stop Harry from visiting here and there. He was rather like a fish, caught in his connection with Tom. Luna looked forward to his visits much more than Tom did.

And sure enough, once she had wandered to the tower, Harry was sitting on the balcony.

"Hello, Harry," Luna said softly, nearing the ledge. The boy turned around, adjusting his glasses.

"Hi, Luna. Is it true? Did he really go that far?"

"Yes," she muttered. "Shouldn't you be with your parents?"

"Oh, I saw them just last night. We had a party. Cheers to Tom's stupidity, of course. It's about bloody time."

Luna was rather hurt by that proclamation. "That's not very nice."

"Well, killing me wasn't very nice either," Harry responded dryly. "You have to admit that."

"You could come back to life, you know. There's a way, through the connection."

Harry laughed. "No thanks. I'd rather be dead than live in a world with him in it."

Luna shuddered slightly. "I would have thought everyone would have moved on and had peace. His misery shouldn't grant you peace."

"Peace, no. Satisfaction, yes."

"I was going to ask you to help me protect him," she said crossly. "But I suppose I won't."

Her friend suddenly looked very serious. "That's why I'm here. You have to leave. It's…pretty cut and dry for Tom, so-."

"He did it for me."

"You _asked_ him to capture Death?"

"Well, he was worried about me. I didn't care to split my soul so he captured Death."

"Ah, I get it," Harry muttered. "So, basically, he was being a selfish wanker. Some things never change. He just put a different spin on it."

"You always see the bad."

"And Luna, you always see the good when it…may not even be there."

"That's exactly why I can't leave. I can't prove him right. Goodbye, Harry. I suspect I will see you later on with the others."

He nodded grimly.

"All right then," Luna said, and with her head bowed, left him on the ledge.

&&&

_Luna._

She felt his call but felt no need to answer it.

"Don't you, though?" Luna peered around quickly, and saw the green woman instantly.

"Hello, Desire."

"Hello, darling. Where's my ward, my keep?" Desire's lips were red and hot, and today, he/she was wearing, of all things, green-pinstripe and black, high spiked boots. Her teeth were like half-moons, and in his eyes, there was fire. In their walk, there was a flame, completely opposite to the poor shade of Harry.

"You mean Tom?" Luna asked, striding further away from her summons and ever closer to Death. She was going to free the unfortunate prisoner and end this madness once and for all.

"And who else would I be speaking of? Not you, ice-princess. Yes, my prized possession."

"He's certainly not yours."

"Oh, but he is. We have burned together for quite some time."

"But he is…in some ways loveless," she whispered the secret she had avoided hearing, and tapped on the circle of Cyprus, the greatest seal of all, where Death was being held. She had Apparated to the furthest left of their kingdom, where the yew trees never died. It was a place Tom had created himself, and now, she was to destroy it.

"Lovegood--oh, wait. Riddle get it into your head. Desire is not all about Lurve. It's about want and need, and dear, seeing everyone's eyes on you! You're like my brother, you are."

"Did you…Are Tom's actions your doing, Desire?"

"In part. But don't blame me. I influence. I don't command. Do you mortals always need a scrape-goat for your sins?"

Desire's hair turned silver, suddenly, as they entered the room together.

"I mean, I knew Lucifer very well, and the poor fool was the eternal scrapegoat. Rather like me. Now this…is interesting."

Tom had brought down the moon as their anniversary gift, and it hung among the yew like a star in a Christmas tree. Here, they controlled the tides together. Further along the edges, time was frozen. Nothing aged and nothing grew.

"This is the perfect place for a party," Desire commented.

"You sound as if you care nothing for your sister."

"Oh, I do care. Tom's not within my protection anymore," the Endless one said. "He is my little Ulysses, crossing boundaries and you know, in the end, he was destined to drown in the sea, just feet away from his heart's desire. Oh, man, I adored Ulysses. He screamed my name as the water filled his mouth."

Luna tried to stop listening to Desire, and made her way to the seal in the middle, the one with the Three Arrows. Death was frozen underneath the arrows, and if she could just…

"They still speak of the guy in your stories, all thanks to me. I am the true path of immortality, not my sister dearest down there. Then there was the Adam and Eve incident. Rather important on the scale of things."

"You're joking," Luna muttered.

"And Loki too. Those small gods were fun to play with. Do you know the important thing, though?"

"I have no idea," she said, reaching through the arrows and into the ice. It bit terribly, and she grimaced.

"Don't be so dull. I bring change. It's all me. If no one had had the urge, the desire to succeed, you'd all have died out long ago."

"Then why don't you protect Tom?"

"Because he's getting old."

Luna flicked her gaze up, and glared at the Endless one with unforeseen ferocity. "He is not! He's-."

She drew back as Desire lit a small flame in his hands, kneeling much closer than Luna's comfort would prefer.

"Because they burn out. All flames do. Those made for chaos, for nothingness, for precious, brittle nihilism burn out, and I try, I so try to make it a blaze of glory. Capturing Death…Nothing is better than that. It's my last gift to my favorite."

Luna and Desire met each other half way, it seemed, as one of Delirium's butterflies turned to ashes before her eyes. "Enjoy your clarity," Desire said. "For you can no longer escape to your mind. Bear the trials with your husband, as a good wife should."

With that, Desire flung the flame at the ice grave, and Luna barely withdrew her hands in time. The fire was black and bright, and soon, the ice was gone.

"Okay…" Death said, briefly, brushing off her jacket. "That was annoying. I should go thank my host. Where is the jerk?"

"Death," Luna cried out. "Desire was the one behind this ruse."

"No, just the influence," Death said, lightly and unforgivingly. "Honestly, you mortals rely too much on your excuses. We, the Endless, are there so you know the difference. If I did not exist, Life would be meaningless. If Delirium did not exist, there would be no true sanity, and no true escape from life. And if Dream didn't exist…"

The dark woman shuddered, and snapped her fingers. The ankh appeared in her fingers and she clasped her necklace around her neck, breathing a deep sigh.

"I'm feeling like myself again."

"Annoyingly perky," Desire said, though there was no malice in the tone.

"Ah, brother/sister. It's good to see you too."

"May I speak to Dream?" Luna asked, feeling panicky. Though he held his grudges, he understood Desire's methods. Perhaps, oh perhaps, there would be mercy.

"Good luck trying," Desire said, smirking. "He's not very talkative, or effective, or…oh, never mind. If I listed all his faults, we'd be here for centuries. Anyway, thanks, Luna darling, for having the desire to set Death free. Well, shall we?"

"Let's," Death replied, and they held hands as they disappeared, in a shadow of a raven and an eagle.

Luna watched them go, holding her heart as if in pain. In this place of endless time, she felt like she had aged just that—a century.

"What…what have you done?"

Tom stood in the doorway, and Luna winced at his expression. In the end, perhaps they do burn out after all, she thought, and waited.

It was all she could do at the moment as she watched Tom unsheathe his wand.

It was all she could do.


	13. For the birds

Disclaimer: All the characters you see here belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author notes: Kind of inspired by Tom's nickname for Luna (or my muse's nickname for Luna).

For the Birds

Luna had never been so very restless.

The cage was just not a good fit. Usually, in her experience, she was supposed to fly around in her animagus form, not sit on a perch all day. And she couldn't let go of her form, or she'd be crushed. Then she remembered. She was trapped in her animagus form for good.

She chirped impatiently, requiring a good bit of attention for what was lacking in comfort.

"Shhh," Ginny hissed, moving towards the cage. "I wanted some company, not a choir."

Luna let out a series of rapid chirps and flapped her wings, causing even more noise than before. "Shall I let you out? Then transform myself?"

Oh dear. She quieted down, and resumed her position on the perch. It just wasn't the moment.

"I thought so," Ginny said smugly. Luna preened instead of acknowledging her former friend. Friends don't keep friends in cages, or at the very least, dirty cages. "Now, what dress should I wear for him? The gold or the green?"

Luna sang happily at the gold when Ginny held it up to her slender body.

"Thanks, I'll wear the green."

She went back to preening. Her feathers were all ruffled from the captivity, and her mood was increasingly foul. Or fowl. She twittered in pleasure at the word game.

"Don't feel too badly. I'm just as much a prisoner as you are. You keep me from going mad." Ginny looked quite sad for a moment then brightened. "Perhaps I can bring you to dinner with me."

As long as she wasn't dinner, she was perfectly fine with the suggestion.

&&&

"Can't you make her be quiet," he hissed.

She couldn't help it if he didn't appreciate dinner music. Ginny tapped sharply on the cage in a gratuitous warning.

"She wouldn't be so loud if you allowed her out," she pointed out.

"There are other ways of letting her out of my home," Tom said, smiling coldly. "In a shoebox, for instance."

Luna cooed. Tom raised an eyebrow.

"There, she likes my suggestion."

"I think she's just responding to your voice," Ginny replied quietly.

"…Pardon?" He set down his glass sharply.

"She always coos when you talk. I've noticed."

"Utterly absurd," he muttered, picking up his fork moodily and stabbing at the plate. Ginny sighed.

"I'm going to go get some fresh air."

He looked after Ginny's departing figure. When he was sure that she was gone, he moved towards the cage.

"If you bite me, so help you," he informed her. He opened the cage door and stuck his hand inside. Luna hopped on his finger and ducked her head as he pulled his hand back. She stretched her wings but did not dare fly.

"I don't see why she's taken such a ridiculous stance on this. I agreed to let you stay alive. She didn't specify as what."

Well, this was true, she thought. He sighed and sat down once more, looking rather morose. For him. Luna was forced to hop from one hand to another when he moved to rub his temple. She cooed again, and tried to scale his shirt. It was an ambitious aim, and his shirt was very silky in nature. Yet she was determined up until she got distracted by a button.

There were beautiful green threads in the button, and Luna began to nibble at said button happily. She could use those threads for a nest.

"You're a much better bird than a person, anyway," he continued, watching her. "I think it worked out perfectly. But no, can't have that."

Luna rather preferred being a bird. She knew too little as a bird, so she wasn't loony. Knowing too much was the way to madness, after all.

She felt him stroke her head with his finger, and she grew still, finding the whole sensation very pleasant. Then she heard the familiar click of Ginny's shoes on the stones. Suddenly she was in his fist, but the button! She could not, would not, surrender the button.

"Stop that," he hissed. She tried to hold on to the button with her beak, but alas, he was too strong for her. She was back in her cage, chirping in agitation.

"What have you done to her?" Ginny asked, hurrying through the doors at the sound of Luna's distress.

"Nothing," he said. "Yet."

"Fine then," the lady responded loftily, picking up the cage. "I'm not hungry anymore."

He shrugged, and she hmphed. That was the way of things. Tom was rather funny at times.

&&&

She awoke to the earth shaking.

Luna slid from side to side on the perch, flapping her wings nervously. The cover on her cage kept her in the dark about the goings-on outside her sanctuary. She heard the footsteps of elephants below her, and could not help but imagine the worst. The cage was set down, and the cover was removed.

A serpent stared at her though the bars, its eyes wide in delight. She promptly molted.

Then Tom appeared, sitting down at the desk. He smiled at her politely. "I see you two haven't been properly introduced. Nagini, Luna. Luna, Nagini."

The serpent wrapped itself around the base of the cage in a ghastly hug, and Luna cowered near her mirror, her little heart beating incredibly fast.

"Ah, yes. You need to stretch your wings, right?"

He opened the door. She ducked her head under her wing, trembling. But her terror did not move him. He wrapped his fingers around her, and she was caught. Properly caught. He set her down in a world of giants, of looming inkwells, and books that looked as if they were cascade down towards her in a moment. Sharp quills with---feathers!—on the ends, and rolled of parchment. And the serpent, a proper Jormungand, descending upon her.

She hurried towards safety, her talons clicking against the wood in her haste, and huddled against the crook of his arm.

"You know, I was thinking just the other day…you're so eager to sing at the most inopportune moments. Do you feel like singing now?"

Truth be told, she didn't. She didn't think she could even squeak at the moment.

"I'm in the mood for some music, myself." He pushed her back in the middle of the desk with his palm, which was similar to a tidal wave. The serpent coiled up. "So sing."

Luna thought about her position. She didn't know how to fly, and never had a chance to practice. The best she could muster was to flutter a few inches off the ground. Her heart was now about to break out of her chest.

She let out a quivering note.

"Hmm. I thought I heard something. It must have been a mouse." The serpent's head bobbed.

He cupped his chin in the palm of his hand and waited. Nagini waited, posed to strike.

Luna glared at the serpent, thinking of the many ways birds had preyed upon snakes. Oh, if she were an eagle instead of a sparrow. She caught on to the mood of being generally bigger and better than the two of them. Luna started with a few low notes, then crescendo-ed into spiraling chirps and twitters, bursting into a proper song of victory. She added a Grecian tune she had remembered as a child, of the eagle sent by Zeus to devour a serpent as part of a great prophecy.

She then began to hop to the tune. Her legs were not made for kicking but she could make do. After a bit, when the main slaying of the serpent was to commence, she fluttered upwards, going in circles. Nagini's head followed her progress, but she ignored the imminent threat of a permanent eclipse.

Thus, she ended her song on a high note, hopping up at him for emphasis. Then she finished. He smirked and clapped. It was deafening, and she clicked away, cooing sadly.

Tom hissed at the serpent, and she thought that Nagini—if it were possible—looked both disgusted and disappointed. Her death on scales uncoiled itself and slithered down the side of the desk.

"It's a good start. Not quite as annoying as it was before."

Luna wanted to go back into her cage, and moved near it, looking up at him expectantly.

"But I've never seen you fly."

And she was seized…and held out an open window that was by his desk. She started to tremble again, looking down at the ground and the world that was suddenly much too large.

"You do well under pressure," he commented. "Who knows? You may actually survive if I let you go."

She was silent

"Too soon? What use are you then?"

He brought her back inside and dumped her onto the desk. "Very well. We will find out if you fall like a rock tomorrow."

He uncurled some parchment and began to write. There were some highly interesting lights in a vessel near her, and she pecked at the glass in curiosity.

"Spirits. Boring spirits. No-nothing spirits. But spirits just the same," he muttered, and Luna realized he was talking to her. Unless he was talking to himself. If it was the former, she was charmed. If it was the latter, then it was none of her business.

She twittered.

"Whatever you said, I've probably tried it."

Indeed. She jumped over to his parchment and nibbled the sides of it. "That's not very sanitary," he commented, and shooed her away with the tip of his quill. So then she played a game of hopping in the O's of another missive. It was great fun.

She heard the sound of someone shouting down the halls, and stopped her game abruptly. He lifted his head to stare.

"Tom!" Ginny was outside the door, sounding as if she were in tears. "The-the cage door was open, and-th-there's just feathers left!"

He looked perfectly innocent. It would have fooled her if she had not been the party in question. Without warning, he pressed his finger against her beak, effectively silencing her.

"I told you to keep a close watch on her. Pity. What a horrible way to die."

"W-what?!"

"Well, I imagine it is. A slow, suffocating, painful death. She probably thought you'd save her as well. But you slept through the entire ordeal."

Luna heard Ginny walk away from the door, silent. The silence was much worse than the sound of her crying.

She tilted her head at him, ruffling her feathers.

"She'll be very glad to have you back after the week is up. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or so they say. I'll take their word for it."

He smiled at her, and resumed his work. Luna did not know what to say, or what his purpose was in the deception. He kept his word, and soon she had to meet the new challenge of tomorrow. The one of flight.

The next day, he let her worry spiral before he put down his book.

"Are you ready for our little experiment?"

Luna could not muster a note in reply. "It shouldn't be too great a challenge. A bird's natural place is in the sky. Though you were an odd sort of bird even when you didn't have feathers…I suppose they, or instincts, make little difference."

She did not think she had instinct. He opened the window once more and held out his hand. She went without a fuss. "I'm going to give you a head start and you will either sink or swim." He smiled at his joke. "I think that's the proper motivation, don't you?"

Then, without warning, he tossed her into the open air. Luna was prepared, however, and began to beat her wings furiously. The world was unfortunately up-side down, and she realized she could have done much better without that start. She was basically flying to her death, rather than away from it. She tried to steady herself valiantly—and succeeded.

She managed to flutter in the air, and saw him looking up at her. And in an instant, his face was level with her struggling body, and then she was really sinking. She chirped in genuine bewilderment.

She fell a little further, past the window ledge, and she was beginning to get tired. She was going to plummet, and even bone in her body would break, knocking the life out of her. And he planned to casually, coldly watch it.

She wished he wouldn't watch at all, and allow her to fall with some dignity. But as long as he was watching, she was going to continue to try.

This continued for a full fifteen minutes, her struggles not to drown in the air, but by then her muscles were tearing from her efforts, she just knew it, and her mind was beginning to swim in circles while she tried to keep climbing to remain conscious. At last, her wings gave way, and she started to fall, feeling like a high diver, and…

He reached out, his motion as quick and accurate as a serpent's, and caught her. She lay in his hand, breathing heavily and barely there at all.

"That was pathetic."

She peered up at him, her wings stretched out in a spread-eagle position. He went to his chair and after sitting, placed her carefully on his leg. "But you struggled so beautifully, it was worth preserving your life for a little longer."

She clicked her tongue, and drifted inward, away for the burning in her body.

"To tell you the truth, I'm bored with my success."

She was determined to pretend that he was talking to himself this time. "It's the grand irony that amuses me the most. I have everything. I have nothing more I can want, nothing more I can gain."

Talk to a person you didn't just throw out a window, she thought to herself, greatly annoyed, and pretended to be dead.

He prodded her with his finger. She sighed inwardly, and hopped to her feet. She cooed softly. He didn't smile but she could tell he was pleased. Luna began the arduous task of scaling to his shoulder but he did the unthinkable.

He gathered her up and placed her on his shoulder.

She grew still, wondering what to do, how to proceed…

"I'm bored with myself."

She shuffled sideways towards him—for his right shoulder was very broad.

"But if I were about to die, I would go mad. But then I see that struggle of yours and so many others, and I wonder if I should place myself close to the edge to feel…I don't know, perhaps just to feel so very alive on that edge. To prove myself to myself, in other words."

She nibbled at his collar, testing the water.

"I know you'll keep my secrets," he said, and smiled darkly. She found that—though there were sharks in the water--she wasn't as terrified as she had been over the course of the last few months. She leaned in quickly and gave him a quick birdie kiss—or that's what she mentally referred to it as.

He didn't seem to mind. She imagined it made all the difference that she was a bird rather than a person. If she were a person, she suspected he would suffer from some sort of fit. Ginny was barely allowed at times, though he was allowed to do as he pleased. He was a rather funny person, honestly. But it was delightful getting away with it.

He got up quickly to pace, and she was elated. He was very tall, so she also felt tall by association. She bobbed her head up and down with glee.

"So I don't feel like a completely fool talking to myself…click twice for yes, click once for no. Do you want to be feed to Nagini?"

She clicked sharply once.

"Good girl. Now, about the flying dilemma. I'm not an expert on this subject, I'll admit."

Luna tilted her head.

"But perhaps you are trying too hard. I expect that you should glide, rather than exhaust yourself immediately."

She clicked twice thoughtfully, and rested on his shoulder, thinking it over. As night fell, she was in her cage once more, with the cover neatly in place, but she was still cold and rather lonely. She tried singing to herself—and hoped to get his attention. Yet he was probably elsewhere.

When morning came and the light shone under the cloth into her cage, she expected him to appear shortly afterwards. Only he did not.

She fluttered, and landed at the bottom of the cage. She pulled at the door and –managed- to lift it. If she were careful, she could squeeze out through the opening. She took it in slow motions, and her beak was starting to hurt. She jumped through at the last moment, and was free. Luna struggled through the cloth and scrambled onto the desk, looking around impatiently.

The study was completely empty, and she was quite disturbed. Usually he was in here at least a few hours. Where was he, then?

She looked at the parchment as best she could, but it rolled about in the most terrible manner possible, like a giant boat. Growing upset at the futility of her situation, she began to let out the shrillest sounds imaginable in her fury.

The door opened, and she stilled.

"Be quiet. It's not hard for the most oblivious person to figure out that--."

He paused and looked at her, free and quite un-caged. She suddenly had a very bad feeling about this. She didn't struggle when he picked her up. She did coo a bit but was quite sure that wouldn't help her.

Once more, at the window, and she was very stoic about the proceeding events. He tossed her out the window, with more force than before, and Luna spread her wings, trying to think about what he had said. She let herself fall, hoping and hoping, then the wind caught her. She flapped a few times to gain altitude. There was a rhythm to this, rather like a rhyme, and Luna started to understand it.

She circled a few times, looking at the world anew and the sky that she momentarily owned. The clouds were much lovelier up close, and she could see everything, right down to the dew on the petals of the flowers and grass. She saw him watching her, so she turned in even sharper circles and took even deeper dives.

He motioned for her to return, and she did, feeling rather proud of herself. The moment she alighted on his hand, she began to preen.

"Even as a bird, you remain yourself," he commented. "A true intellectual…proud of accomplishing something that most of your kind do naturally."

Well, that was a bit uncalled for.

"But your feathers are lovely today." Thus he was forgiven. "So we've solved the age-old mystery of flight. Now, for a whole other creature. Some excel under pressure, Luna, practically consuming it. And some fold like the hollow things they are. Let's see how you deal with pressure."

Before her eyes, he began to construct a maze with his wand. It was really, very extraordinary, eerily similar to a house of cards.

"You will be trying to find _this_."

He took something out of his pocket, and it glittered in the light. For a moment, she mistook it for a human eye, and that put a damper on her mood. Out of sight, out of mind; or rather, out of sight, out of her mind. She shuddered. Then upon closer examination, she saw it merely looked like an eye but was an odd sort of jewel.

"The eye of Odin," he explained, sounding a bit smug. Luna whistled appreciatively. "It is nice, isn't it?"

He placed it in the maze, but Luna couldn't see where it was for the walls were in the way. Then he put her in the maze. The walls were too narrow for her to fly out. She blinked and twittered.

"What are you waiting for? You've already lost a minute. Only 29 more to go."

What happens when it reaches 29 minutes, and I'm still eyeless? The she heard the hissing. Nagini, it seemed, had also entered the maze. Luna began to click forward, her twitters bubbling out of her without her control.

"Can you multitask, my dear? One threat behind you, three ahead of you."

What? Then the figures in the cards came to life. One footless Foot Soldier crawled out of the surface, and Luna hurried by it before it could gain its footing. Wonderful.

She turned a sharp corner, and there, blocking her way, was the Empress, with a rather large ax.

---

Oh yes: the intellectual quote is from Bill Cosby: Himself. In a weird way.


	14. Best of Friends

TITLE: The Best of Friends  
RATING: G

"You'll never be special. You want it too much."

The figure in the mirror glared at Luna from under a hood of dark hair. He had been in a foul mood during his captivity.

In the last moment of battle, his soul had flown the coop, and Luna had seen him. To others, it appeared as if Lord Voldemort was dead. But souls made lovely guides and happy butterflies.

Luna had a mirror in her pocket for such an occasion. She crept after his soul, and it coiled up like a serpent.

"Animam abduco."

Then Luna had a new friend.

---

Okay, this one is based on three things. Mirrors themselves are supposed to be things that could capture your soul if you were to die and a mirror was in the room.

Secondly, Kanna from Inuyasha.

Thirdly...I don't like mirrors, they are creepy ;-).


	15. Teamwork

Disclaimer : All characters and this world belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Teamwork

Luna had a soft spot for colors of all kinds.

But Luna was wary of the meanings, and she was well-versed in what influenced the world. Her father had taught her to look underneath the veil of words and routine. She, of course, was eager to share this information with Tom who seemed to know all about the power of suggestion.

While they were walking through the woods, she pointed out a small yellow butterfly and commented on how the color was so vivid that it could not fail to leave an impression. He smiled slightly.

"I prefer subtlety. I prefer things you don't have to be shown to understand. Bright colors are gaudy. Like the Gryffindor red. Do you know that if one looks at red too long they start to lose touch? For starters, you'd become emotional and disoriented."

"Oh no!" Luna gasped. "The Gryffindors. Shouldn't we warn them?"

"Let them figure that out themselves," Tom said, shaking his head and smiling a little. "I'm not complaining about their er-proclivity of being so easy to manipulate. It was just an illustration."

"But still, what does green do for the mind?"

"Ah, green. Now there's a practical color."

"You're biased. Blue's far better."

"Oh really now? Blue's as empty as a broken bird house. Hah, there's a connection."

"Well, green is for grass. Full of brass."

"Is that the best you can do?" Tom asked. "And I completely thought you were going to say something else there for a moment. Pity. It held a ring of truth."

"What?" Luna demanded, staring at him. "What was I about to say?"

"That people are easily influenced."

Luna blinked. "Well, everything influences us. I don't care for dancing but I did catch myself singing to one of the Weird Sisters' lovely songs. It got stuck in my head, though."

And it had become awfully lodged in her mind at the time.

"It's very curious what the mind clings to..." he said, and suddenly there was a rather sharp look in his eyes. He smiled. "Would you like to test our theory?"

Luna turned to him. "Do you mean...an experiment?" she gasped in delight.

"That's exactly what I mean."

&&&

"It's happened. We are now at the witching hour, witchs and gents."

Larry 'Howler' Lycann growled into the portal that linked the network to the entire wizarding world. He personally thought the magical world had grown away from the philosophy of rhymes and music in magic, and he was saddened by the change. However, he was satisfied with his position, and still considered the network portal to be his sanctuary and one of the last links to the olden days.

"This one is a brand new hit from Celestina Warbeck called 'Astral Heartbeats', and I--."

He saw something move out of the corner of his eye, and turned towards the color-stained glass window. A small girl, who was momentarily blue in his vision, was waving happily at him. He blinked, and she was still there. So no late night tricks of the mind. Someone had really gotten into the secondary level of the network.

Then he heard something from behind him.

"Who's there?" he called out, alarmed.

And someone answered from the shadows of the portal room. "You-Know-Who."

Then the world went black.

"Will he be all right, Tom?" she inquired, stepping over the man on the floor.

"Yes, yes," he muttered, looking at the portal, a look of deep satisfaction on his handsome face. "For him, it will be like a dream upon waking."

Luna nodded, and conjured up a pillow to place under the man's head. Tom chuckled to himself, amused and rather charmed by her actions.

"Remember the spell, my muse?"

"Oh yes," Luna chirped, and pointed her wand at the portal. "For my choice, I recorded the serpents from our garden. They were so happy to be on the Wireless. And the little butterfly wanted to be included so I also recorded the beating of its wings. But then the trees wanted to be included so...well, I included everyone from our garden. But Tom, what's your choice?"

"Nothing much at all," he said. "Just a few subliminal suggestions."

"That's very interesting. Rather sublime. I like limes."

"So do I. Shall we?"

Together they cast the spell.

The results were quite interesting.

&&&

Heh, the disc jokey from American Graffiti was named Wolfman Jack. I think in HP, it would be more literal, no?

More to come, especially a continuation of For the Birds!


End file.
